Albania’s EU Accession Sprint: Balancing Momentum, Reform, and EU Scrutiny

Albania has emerged as one of the most rapidly advancing EU candidate countries, having opened all negotiation clusters and aiming to complete talks by 2027. Its progress is driven by strong geopolitical alignment, broad public support, and Prime Minister Edi Rama’s active engagement with EU leaders.

Yet rapid advancement masks notable challenges.

Albania’s limited political pluralism and modest EU accession engagement from civil society, the private sector and local governments raise concerns about the sustainability and inclusiveness of reforms. Key reforms on media regulation, judicial reform, environmental protection and public procurement are still pending. This policy brief assesses Albania’s political dynamics and reform trajectory.

It argues that insufficient EU due diligence on key reforms risks weakening the EU’s transformative power. Ensuring credible progress requires stronger domestic ownership and more rigorous and sincere EU assessments as Albania enters a decisive phase of accession.

This document was published by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations and written in collaboration with Wouter Zweers, Dimitar Bechev, Iliriana Gjoni, Milan Nič, Nikola Xaviereff.