EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi met in Brussels with Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is there as part of the EU-Western Balkans summit.
Varhelyi says that the EU is ready to open negotiations with Albania, for the first chapters within an Intergovernmental Conference this year.
"On the sidelines of the EU-BP Summit, Albania's next steps on its way to the EU were discussed with Prime Minister Edi Rama.
While we finished the "screening" exercise, we are ready to open the membership negotiations on the Basics - Group 1 - in the framework of an Intergovernmental Conference this year," writes Varhelyi on social networks.
On the margins of #EUWBSummit discussed next steps of #Albania on its #EU path w/ PM @ediramaal
— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) December 13, 2023
As we finished the screening exercise, we're ready to open accession negotiations on Fundamentals - Cluster 1 - in the framework of an Intergovernmental Conference still this year. pic.twitter.com/lgNv3RkTOq