site.btaAlbania Set to Close Three More Chapters in EU Accession Talks

Three more chapters of Albania's accession negotiations with the European Union are expected to be provisionally closed, Prime Minister Edi Rama said, announcing that the country will hold its ninth Intergovernmental Conference with the EU on July 14, as reported by the Albanian Daily News.

In a post on social media, Rama said the conference will take place in Brussels at the Council of the EU, marking another step in Albania's membership negotiations.

The prime minister said the meeting is expected to conclude negotiations on the first three chapters under the relevant negotiating cluster, describing the conference as further evidence of progress in the country's EU integration process.

Rama also dismissed opposition claims that Albania's accession talks had stalled, using the announcement to criticize what he described as a series of inaccurate predictions about his government and the country's international agenda.

"They said the negotiations were blocked. They said the NATO Summit was cancelled. They said the government had fallen. They said all kinds of things – and they will keep talking because their job is words, while ours is work," Rama wrote.

Albania formally opened EU accession negotiations in 2022 and has since been advancing through the screening and chapter-opening process as part of its bid to become a member of the European Union, the Albanian Daily News said.