Good day. Today is such a special day that, even though we are the hosts here today, the first to speak must be the host of the great house of Europe. And then I will also say a few words regarding the release of the European Commission's progress report on Albania.
You have the floor, because today is full, so let me just start by doing what I came here for, which is the enlargement report.
So let me start with a platitude. Yesterday, the European Commission adopted its 2025 enlargement package, including a report on Albania, and this was the first package of the new Commission. I just handed over the report to the Prime Minister. Later today I will meet the Minister for European Affairs to discuss the report, and later this week I will do the same with business representatives and civil society organizations. At the earliest opportunity I will also hand it over to the Speaker of the Parliament and present it to the chairs of all parliamentary committees and leaders of parliamentary groups, and then when the President is back in the country I shall also hand it over to him.
Albania's integration process: five out of six clusters of negotiation chapters have now been opened, and work is under way to open the last one. All this was achieved at remarkable speed, and I wish to congratulate the Albanian authorities for this outstanding result.
We need to seize the unique opportunity of the accession process. Albania has made significant progress in implementing its reform and growth agenda, the growth plan for the Western Balkans, fulfilling 21 reform measures between December and now. 99.3% of Albania's alignment with the EU acquis has been achieved, a sign of reforms.
Because, as President von der Leyen confirmed during a recent visit to Tirana, this is what we are here for: the European Commission is ready to support Albania in every step of the way towards the fulfilment of its ambitious goal of closing accession negotiations in 2027. To meet this ambition, Albania needs to maintain the pace of reforms. The immediate priority for further progress in the accession negotiations is to meet the interim benchmarks. These are concrete and tangible steps which member states have identified as part of the fundamental requirements that an aspiring EU country must meet.
The Albania report is a fact, and it is our hope that all political forces, society, and business actors, and the media as well, will take it into account. Counting forward, the report follows the same familiar structure and format introduced last year, which I think makes it much more readable, and the reporting period is between September 2024 and September 2025, with very important developments after this date reported as well.
The regular report on Albania confirms Albania's firm political commitment to EU integration as a key priority, recognises the high level of alignment in the accession process, and notes that reforms need to be accelerated.
It also acknowledges that Albania has continued to align itself fully with the common foreign and security policy, and this sends a strong signal about Albania's strategic role as a reliable partner in the challenging geopolitical context.
On the political criteria, the report notes functional shortcomings, rulings, limited parliamentary oversight of the executive, and the lack of meaningful public consultations.
With regard to the elections, the report quotes the findings of the OSCE election observation mission, notably that the elections were competitive and professionally conducted but were marked by substantial shortcomings, including the abuse of public resources, which resulted in the lack of a level playing field.
On the judiciary, the report notes progress in the vetting process and judicial independence, including appointments of magistrates and the judicial council, as well as the adoption of measures enhancing judicial independence. However, interference and pressure on the judicial system remain challenges, as do the provisions applicable to magistrates of the councils with those applicable to magistrates, and conducting timely evaluations, appointments, promotions, and transfers of magistrates efficiently. The backlog of cases, infrastructure, judicial vacancies, and the judicial training system need to be addressed to ensure access to justice.
The report notes that Albania is moderately prepared and has made some progress in the fight against corruption, including the adoption of a strategy for 2024. However, corruption remains widespread across vulnerable sectors, affecting the public and private spheres, and so far preventive efforts have been insufficient.
On the fight against organised crime, the report notes that Albania is moderately prepared and has acted on last year's recommendation by increasing the capacity and effectiveness of the Specialised Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime in disrupting organised crime groups, improving financial investigation, and seizing assets linked to organised crime. The Albanian police now offer a coherent response.
Progress in other areas includes the adoption of a new law on personal data protection, which is fully in line with the EU and the GDPR regulation, and also the adoption of seven laws relating to the rights of persons belonging to minorities, specifically on self-identification and the use of minority languages — an achievement. However, alignment and implementation efforts need to intensify on the key issues of equality and non-discrimination, covering all forms of discrimination, and on the protection of vulnerable groups.
On property rights, progress is still needed on first registration, digitalisation, and compensations. Finally, one important area is Albania's preparation for the Schengen area, where only limited progress has been made. While the launch of a structured dialogue, in which we have worked with the University of Tirana and the Council of Europe and with the President of the Government, was a positive development between Albanian institutions and media actors, the report notes that all recommendations should be discussed with the relevant authorities in the context of the accession talks.
Now we encourage Albania to deliver crucial progress towards meeting the interim benchmarks in the coming weeks so that this ambitious timeline can remain on track.
The accession process must be accompanied by healthy and inclusive debates in the assembly, and I am saying this because, as the report points out, joining the EU is a whole-of-society project based on democratic values that each country must actively embrace, as it will determine its future. The project must be owned not just by the government but also by the opposition, citizens, civil society, and local communities. Everyone must have an active role in this process for this choice to become reality, and it must be backed by democratic legitimacy and broad political consensus.
Over 90% of the Albanian population supports the country's membership as a member state, and the Albanian government and institutions must live up to these expectations. The European Union and the delegation here in Albania, which I have the honour to serve, will continue to be there to accompany and support Albania on this journey, and we look forward to continuing close cooperation with the government and other key institutions.
Thank you. Faleminderit.
This report says many things, but above all it says one thing: that Albania is on the right path to technically conclude the negotiations within 2027. And in saying this, the report has said everything. At the same time, on this right path there are challenges at every step — challenges and issues to be addressed not only quantitatively but also qualitatively at every step. And naturally, the progress report is a glass half full.
What we have always done and will do again is that, taking all the necessary energy from the half that is full, we will focus all the necessary energy on the half that is empty, so that within 2027 we can conclude this process and so that the 2027 report will write: we recommend the membership of Albania in the European Union.
This is the historic objective. This is our ambition, and I am very proud that nowadays no one forgets to say that Albania is at the forefront of this process together with Montenegro, and that finally Albania is the positive example given to others who want to become part of the European family.
This is the report for me. The rest are all detailed parts of a process in which we have opened five clusters of chapters in record time. I believe we will also open the sixth cluster of chapters and close the year with all chapters open.
This has come as the result of a fact that I wish to bring back to everyone's attention: the years of humiliation, as I call them and will always call them — those years when the Commission recommended opening the negotiations, but because of one, two, or three countries the Council could not open the negotiations with Albania. We have done exactly what I repeated at the time: we prepared for the day when the negotiations would open, and we worked as if they had already opened.
For this reason, our negotiating team has excelled in this process, because it did not go to the negotiating table to learn there what to do, but was well trained during the three-year era of Albania's humiliation. So today we know our tasks very well. We are the only country in the region that uses artificial intelligence for this process, and thanks to this we transfer at very high speed the entire EU legal body in order to adopt it into the legal body of the Republic of Albania.
On the other hand, we carry out with dedication all the objectives set in the joint calendar, and we analyse with great patience and humility all the issues listed here as problems that must be addressed and solved.
So I want to thank from the bottom of my heart both of our ministers, respectively the chief negotiator and the deputy chief negotiator, who are truly two great reasons to feel at ease and at the same time to command all respect in Brussels, together with all the negotiators, some of whom are here and are a national pride for us. I do not want to go on any further.
In all fields, the report has both achievements and problems. In all fields, the report tells Albanians that Albania is moving resolutely in the right direction, and on the other hand it tells us what we must do more and better in order to move without any interruption towards the objective of 2027.
And I hope and wish that all those who do not love this government will take this wish as it should be taken, because the closer we are to the EU, the more space and care there will be for them too — something that is not lacking in this report either.
So feel good, whether you are supporters or opponents of this government, because this government has done its duty for the supporters and for the opponents. And then, ever closer proximity to the European Union is a guarantee for everyone.
We are supporters and opponents of the government at different times, according to the governments that come and go. Ours will not go without bringing the European Union to Albania and without making Albania a proud member of the European Union. Further on, we will see and do as the people decide.
Those were my words. Now we are open for questions, and you cannot raise your hand without the legendary veteran Muhamed Veliu speaking first.
Now you will have to forgive me very much for what I am about to say, but I would ask that before you take it as a lack of modesty, you refer to your archives. I raised this idea myself many years ago, and I have repeated it every time I was given the opportunity, and I stand by this idea because it is an idea that I did not invent, even though I put it forward in public, since it is an idea whose roots go very deep in the history of European thought.
It is an approach that gives both sides the opportunity to get what they need without creating problems for one another. Which means: we want to become members of the European Union. We want to sit at the table as equals. We want to have full access to the entire edifice of the European Union from the point of view of legislation, from the point of view of capacities, from the point of view of budgets, and so on and so forth.
They want the same thing, but they have a fear that, being 27 and already having difficulty in taking decisions — because it is a family where everything is decided by consensus — now they say: imagine if we become 28, 29, 30, 32, who knows how much more difficult it could become.
Regardless of the fact that we as Balkaners — I think today we are calmer than they themselves, who have meanwhile become Balkanised. And this is reason enough to find a middle way that is positive for both sides. So I see this as a very positive thing.
We have also made concrete proposals. We are ready to take part in any kind of discussion. This does not need to be done with treaty changes. This can be done simply with an agreement. After an agreement, we sit at the table. The important thing is that we must not have a veto, and they must not be afraid of our veto.
That's it. And here I see no inequality and no problem. So I fully welcome this idea. It does not surprise me at all, because even with the Commissioner, among other things, in the first meeting we had, I told her this, as I have said and repeated everywhere, always, regardless of having heard from some who are no longer here at all today, saying: what is this? We want you inside our house with everything, just as we have it ourselves.
Well, fine. But this is not something that arose as a problem from us. It arose from you, and we are telling you how we can address this so that we can be together at the table and have no concern — neither we about being equal with you, nor you in relation to the public.
No, in fact one of the big ones told me: you will enter the European Union, he said, definitely, and we will celebrate it together. He is no longer here, he has gone. So I understand the desires, the good desires, and I understand these too. But times have changed and we must adapt to the times, and it is the most normal thing to find a way to be at the table and for our rights not to be — because here it is not about our rights. Our rights will be equal, but also their concern must not turn into a problem for us, where they say: wait a moment, you, until we reform the European Union, as another one who is leaving now told me, and then we will look at this matter.
No, so I believe we are very much here.
Prime Minister, the idea of a transitional period or a probationary period for new members joining the European Union is not new. What matters is that there are strong safeguards, so that reforms and the rule of law in countries that join the European Union are well anchored and there is no risk of, you know, a slide back or things like that. This does not affect what are the fundamental principles of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which would entail a complete revision of our treaties, and that is not on the table here.
