Bushati: “Albania expects to join EU within a decade”

In an interview for the German “Reuters”, Bushati told journalist Andreas Rinke that the EU is discussing only the cost of enlargement, but never the cost of non-enlargement.

By early February, the EU Commission gave the six Western Balkan countries the possibility to join the EU until 2025, but at the same time, they made appeals for more efforts with the reforms.

The accession negotiations with Montenegro and Serbia are already open. Bushati said that based on the information he has, Albania is about to open the accession negotiations.

The perspectives for accepting Western Balkan countries in the EU were also discussed in the agreement of the coalition between the German parties, CDU, CSU and SPD.

However, there have been reports about the influence of Russia, Turkey and China, which could make it harder for these countries’ approach with the EU.

“Western Balkan is considered a geo-strategic chess game. The region is very important for the security of Europe, due to the fight against Islamic terrorism, and for being an itinerary to refugees”

China is also investing in strategic sectors, especially mines and energy.

“Japan has also been engaged recently. These investments are welcome. It is important to underline that no one sees this as an alternative to EU accession, but just as an addition to the admission process”, Bushati declared.

At the same time, Bushati appeals Germany and the EU to increase their commitment in the region.

Germany has initiated the so-called Berlin Process for the Balkans, which aims to encourage cooperation between Western Balkan countries through regular summits.

“I would like to see more concrete actions. We need infrastructure projects that go beyond borders and include all countries. That would make Western Balkan countries more united, and they’d be closer to the EU at the same time”, Bushati said.

Bushati doesn’t expect all six members of Western Balkan to join the EU at the same time. He refers to the disputes between specific countries, among former Yugoslav members.

The German Foreign Minister as well, Sigmar Gabriel, underlined that Serbia will not become a member of the EU if they don’t recognize the independence of Kosovo.

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