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Candidate countries celebrate new momentum in EU accession process

2025-11-05 16:54:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Candidate countries for European Union membership showed optimism at the Euronews Enlargement Summit in Brussels on Tuesday, as new progress reports signaled moves towards membership. Montenegro, Albania and Moldova all aim to join the bloc within the next five years.

After years of stagnation in European Union enlargement, several countries are now back on track to join the bloc within the next few years.

Leaders from EU candidate countries gathered in Brussels for the Euronews Enlargement Summit on Tuesday, as the European Commission presented its latest progress report.

“Unfortunately, it took an aggression on European soil, a military aggression, to wake up Brussels,” said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during his speech at the summit, referring to the acceleration of accession talks since the start of Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine.

Rama expressed hope that this renewed momentum would not fade and that his country would finally take its place at the EU table. He was not the only one hoping to become a member in the coming years. Montenegro and Albania are expected to be the EU's newest members by 2028 and 2030, respectively.

According to the annual report published on Tuesday, the Commission believes that Montenegro is "on track" to meet its ambitious goal of closing all groups in EU accession negotiations by the end of 2026.

Montenegro's Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Filip Ivanovic, said at the summit that his country's progress was the result of "hard work and political commitment."

"The report we just received is additional proof of the plan we had as a government. We want each report to be better than the others. This is the best report ever," he said.

Ivanovic also praised the EU's renewed enlargement goals, calling it the bloc's "most important policy" and saying that more countries joining the bloc would strengthen its geopolitical position.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu also sees Moldova joining the EU by 2030.

In her speech, Sandu warned of the dangers of failing to make tangible progress in the next three years, ahead of the upcoming elections in Moldova.

"They will use us against the EU if there is no real perspective for integration," she said during the summit.

On the other end of the spectrum is Serbia, which has seen the process stall in recent years.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? defended the country's commitment to reforms during his interview on Tuesday.

"Serbia is very committed to its path towards the EU and will pursue it in a very serious and responsible manner," he said.

Some membership fatigue persists

For many of these countries, especially those in the Western Balkans, the accession process has dragged on for more than a decade.

North Macedonia applied for membership in 2004, more than twenty years ago. Montenegro followed in 2008, while Albania and Serbia did so in 2009. Moldova is one of the latest, submitting its application in 2022.

Hristijan Mickoski, the prime minister of North Macedonia, said the country has seen little progress in a quarter of a century.

"Unfortunately, we are in the same place we were 25 years ago due to some artificial reasons," Mickoski said at the summit, referring to the decades-long Greek veto that led to the country's name change, as well as the current Bulgarian veto on issues involving minority rights, history and language.

"Despite all those humiliations and disappointments and despite the current frustration that is within our citizens, we share the same values," he added.

Albania's Rama also lamented what he called "years of humiliation," during which the process stalled.

After years of talks, the EU candidates have one thing clear: they want full membership. No middle ground, no probationary period, and full voting rights.

"We have been on trial for the last 15 years and we will remain on trial until we close all the chapters of the negotiations. As soon as we close all the chapters, as far as I am concerned, the trial is over," said Montenegro's Ivanovic./ CNA