European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, emphasized this Tuesday at the Forum Europa in Brussels that Montenegro and Albania are the countries advancing their reforms "most rapidly" in the EU accession process.
This was stated by Marta Kos at a briefing organised by New Economy Forum, where she analysed the different speeds of the candidate countries EU accession processes and the window of opportunity that has opened for these countries during the Commission's term.
Kos recalled that, in 1979, the then President of the European Parliament, Simone Veil, described the EU in her first speech "as an island of freedom surrounded by regimes where force prevails".
She recalled that Veil argued at the time that "to safeguard peace, freedom, and prosperity in Europe", Greece, Spain, and Portugal, three countries that had just freed themselves from dictatorships, should be integrated. “We did it, and it worked”, Kos added.
Now, the Commissioner asserted, the candidate countries “are implementing reforms faster than ever”, and therefore maintained that “at the current pace, seeing a new wave of EU enlargement by 2030 is a very realistic prospect”. Specifically, she highlighted that “some important steps” have been taken with Albania and Montenegro during her mandate.
Therefore, she emphasised that her message “to those who are still struggling” to undertake the necessary reforms “is that opportunities open and close, don't waste them”. A message she conveyed to Serbia during her recent visit.
Returning to Albania, Kos emphasised that Prime Minister Edi Rama, who just won the elections for a fourth term, confided in her that he hopes Albania can conclude negotiations by 2027, after which the ratification process typically takes between one and two years. “What I liked about what's happening in Albania is that they truly believe in the European Union”, the Commissioner stated.
She gave a favorable assessment of Albania's process, but warned that “there are some areas where we have to be very careful, and one of them is the fight against corruption, and free media”. In this regard, she explained that when we talk about negotiations with the candidates, each of them must integrate their legal system into the European one “because that is the only way to maintain European unity”.
Finally, she highlighted the case of Iceland, which is considering returning to the previous accession negotiation process, which was very advanced. She stated that when she spoke with Icelanders to find out the reasons for their sudden desire to return to the process, they told her they wanted to "belong to a community of values and democracy". And this, she emphasized, "comes from a country that, through the EEA (European Economic Area), is 98% integrated into the European Union, and where the rule of law is of the highest standard".
