Albania Enters Closing Phase of EU Negotiations Monday; Rama Announces Merz Meeting from Durrës Rally

The Newsroom

Prime Minister Edi Rama on Sunday confirmed Albania will formally enter the closing phase of European Union accession negotiations at the Eighth Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels on Monday, and told supporters at a Socialist Party rally that a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz would follow in the coming days. No date, venue or format for the meeting was disclosed.

The announcement came during an address marking the 35th anniversary of the Socialist Party’s Durrës branch. Earlier in the day, Rama opened the 2026 summer health season at a separate event in the city, where the Ministry of Health activated 36 seasonal health centers staffed by 301 newly appointed doctors and nurses, an increase from the 227 positions opened for the 2025 season.

Rama said the Brussels conference would “seal the closure of the introductory phase and the opening of the concluding phase of the accession negotiations,” and reiterated the government’s goal of completing negotiations by 2027. The Council of the European Union announced on May 22 that the eighth Accession Conference would confirm Albania’s fulfillment of the Cluster 1 “Fundamentals” interim benchmarks and establish closing benchmarks for Chapter 23, covering Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and Chapter 24, covering Justice, Freedom and Security. The COREPER ambassadors approved the EU Common Position the same day. Albania is expected to become the second candidate country, after Montenegro, to reach this stage of the accession process. The conference is scheduled for 19:00 local time.

“Either the Socialist Party will bring Albania into Europe, or Europe will never accept Albania,” Rama told supporters, accusing the Democratic Party of attempting to damage the government’s image abroad. He framed the forthcoming Merz meeting as a rebuttal to opposition claims of a rupture in relations with Berlin. The Democratic Party did not issue an immediate response to the announcement.

The reference to the German chancellor comes one week after Merz on May 18 reportedly proposed to EU leadership that the six Western Balkan countries, together with Ukraine and Moldova, should not initially join through the traditional full-membership model that governed earlier enlargements, but should instead follow a phased accession path. Under the proposal, candidate states would participate without full voting rights, progressively adopt the acquis communautaire, gain gradual access to the Single Market, and receive expanded financial support, with mechanisms to reverse benefits if European standards were undermined. Full membership would remain the stated final objective. Rama did not address the phased-accession proposal in his Durrës remarks.

Working-level cooperation between Tirana and Berlin has continued on a separate track. The two governments concluded their 2026 Development Cooperation Negotiations in Tirana in late April with the signing of a new Development Cooperation Protocol covering the 2026 to 2028 period, including a 29 million euro support package and a confirmed 51 million euro project on energy infrastructure.

The Socialist Party anniversary event in Durrës was attended by Rama, party regional coordinator Blendi Klosi, and former Socialist MP Bardhyl Agasi, whose son Ergys Agasi is currently wanted by SPAK in the special prosecutor’s investigation into the National Agency for the Information Society. Bardhyl Agasi recalled the 1992 to 1997 period of Democratic Party rule, describing physical intimidation of Socialist supporters by police forces under President Sali Berisha. Klosi told supporters the party would govern Albania “until the day of integration.” Certificates of recognition were awarded to nine founding members of the party’s Durrës branch.

At the earlier health season opening, attended by Health Minister Evis Sala and Durrës Mayor Emirjana Sako, Rama described the medical staff as “ambassadors of the country” and “perhaps the only image of the Albanian state that foreign tourists encounter.” He said visitor numbers were expected to consolidate at 2025 levels with possible increases during peak months.

Sako said Durrës anticipates between 1.5 and 2 million tourists during the 2026 season, in line with municipal projections cited in previous seasons, and confirmed five seasonal health centers would operate on 24-hour service. Sala thanked medical staff and said their work was essential to the proper functioning of the tourist season.

National tourism figures present a more uneven picture than the projections from Durrës suggest. According to the Institute of Statistics, January 2026 recorded the first year-on-year decline in foreign arrivals since the post-pandemic recovery began, at 1.5 percent. Q1 2026 closed at 1.68 million foreign arrivals, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, with March alone at 609,363, a 10.8 percent increase. INSTAT reported 12.47 million foreign tourists for the full year 2025, a 6.6 percent increase over 2024.