The Munich Security Conference drew to a close on Sunday with a promising message for European Union candidate countries Albania and Montenegro.
Advertisement
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said Albania and Montenegro are the “front-runners” among the current candidates for EU accession and that their continuing negotiations could be concluded by the end of 2026 or 2027.
She added that North Macedonia could also be “very, very quickly on a good path”.
Kos has been an EU commissioner since last year and emphasised that she could bring two to three accession negotiations to a conclusion by the end of her term.
However, an end to negotiations would not yet mean that these countries could actually join the EU. A prerequisite for this is that all EU countries agree to and then ratify the accession treaties negotiated by the European Commission.
Advertisement
Grey-haired Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was cautiously optimistic about the announcement, noting that at the beginning of the process his locks were black.