FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
No country can become an EU member state without meeting criteria, such as establishing the rule of law, fighting corruption, media freedom and freedom of expression...
The European Union has given another message to countries aspiring to join the Union, while rejecting the propaganda that this process can be carried out without fulfilling conditions or with new formulas due to geopolitical developments.
Montenegro is the country considered closest to the European Union, while Albania ranks second among the countries of the Region by opening all negotiation chapters. Edi Rama has stated that he aims for Albania's membership in the EU by 2030, and this was even used in the campaign for the May 11, 2025 elections, when he took his 4th consecutive mandate as Prime Minister.
Rama has described the opening of all chapters within a short time as a major step, while proposing an acceleration of the enlargement process, even raising the idea of membership without veto rights. Rama's position was also supported by Serbia, through President Aleksandar Vučić, but there were strong reactions from Brussels.
Recently, it was Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement, who chose to give a strong message to countries aiming for membership. For the first time, a message from an official from Brussels states that the EU cannot accept new countries that could weaken the Union, which is directly related to democratic and political rules, and not simply the fulfillment of technical conditions.
"We cannot afford to admit someone, a new EU member state, that would weaken us. We are not a group of friends, but a community of values," Kos said, during a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council, in the framework of the 2026 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, DC.
Conveying a strong message to countries aspiring to the EU, Kos emphasized, "once you decide to be part of this community of values and benefit from all its advantages, you must behave properly and be on the right side."
"No country can become an EU member state without meeting the criteria," such as establishing the rule of law, fighting corruption, media freedom, and freedom of expression.
"We have been attacked from different directions, we are accused that our democracy is not a true democracy, that our civilization is in decline... It is not in decline at all, just look at the elections in Hungary," Kos said.
Marta Kos's stance once again brings into focus the fulfillment of criteria by countries that expect or hope to be the next members of the European Union.
The latest Eurobarometer results show that citizens of the Union countries do not support enlargement towards countries that have economic problems.
In Germany and Austria, a possible enlargement of the European Union is generally rejected by a majority. Eurobarometer surveys, the EU's instrument for measuring public opinion, regularly show this.
A September 2025 poll showed that at EU level there is a majority of 56% in favour of admitting new members. However, in Germany and Austria supporters are in the minority, at 49% and 45% respectively.
Support is even lower in the Czech Republic and France, where only 43% of respondents support the idea of EU enlargement.
But within a few months, it appears that support has been further reduced in some EU countries.
The rejection is also linked to the poor reputation of the candidate countries. With the exception of Turkey, which has remained only a formal candidate and no longer plays a real role in the enlargement debate, all the countries aiming for membership are from Eastern Europe: six from the Western Balkans, as well as Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, the latter of which is currently no longer considered a serious candidate.
In all these countries, the level of economic development remains below the average of the current member states. This creates little enthusiasm, not only in Austria and Germany. The candidates are often perceived as net beneficiaries, as “receiving countries” that do not contribute. This perception is debatable, but remains a reality in public opinion. / Pamphlet /
Lini një Përgjigje