Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos stated in an interview with Radio Free Europe that Albania will be the 29th member state of the European Union, after Montenegro, by 2029.
"It would be a failure for us if, within this mandate of the current European Commission, we did not manage to not admit any new country to the EU. I am sure that we can admit Montenegro, a country with which we have opened all chapters and have begun to close them, a process that could be closed by the end of 2026. From a technical point of view, we can close negotiations with Albania by the end of 2027. It is then up to the member states whether these two countries will join our European family ," said Marta Kos.
–You mentioned Montenegro and Albania, will they be the 28th and 29th EU state respectively before you leave office in 2029?
Marta Kos: Yes.
According to Kos, in June, a series of decisions on EU enlargement are expected to be made.
In September 2024, the EU decided to start negotiations with Albania, leaving North Macedonia behind, while Skopje remained embroiled in bilateral disputes with Sofia over the rights of Bulgarian minorities.