Albania advances EU accession talks at Brussels intergovernmental conference

Prime Minister Edi Rama led the Albanian delegation to the European Union’s eighth intergovernmental conference in Brussels on 25‑26 May, a key meeting intended to confirm Albania’s fulfilment of intermediate benchmarks in Chapter 1 (Fundamentals) of the accession negotiations and to set final conditions for the next phase.

The session, chaired by EU officials including Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus Marilena Raouna and EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, reviewed progress on judiciary reform, public administration, fundamental rights and other core chapters. Rama used the platform to accuse domestic opposition of staging violent protests that he said harmed Albania’s international image.

Separately, the EU announced a disbursement of €49 million from the Western Balkans Growth Plan, raising total EU support for Albania to €212 million—the largest amount allocated to any Western Balkan country under the programme.