On the eve of the publication of the European Commission’s annual enlargement reports, EU Commissioner Marta Kos highlighted Albania and Montenegro as the two countries showing the most notable progress in their EU integration reforms.
Kos praised Albania as a “distinguished performer” in fulfilling its obligations toward Brussels, emphasizing the country’s steady advancement in aligning with EU standards.
“On Tuesday, we will present our report on the progress made by EU candidate countries over the past year,” Kos said.
“Two countries stand out in this process — Montenegro and Albania. They have achieved remarkable success in implementing integration reforms. We have opened and closed more negotiation chapters with these two countries in a single year than in the past 15 years combined.”
Kos described both Albania and Montenegro as “small but determined nations” that have set ambitious timelines for completing accession talks.
“These two small countries — Montenegro, with 600,000 inhabitants, and Albania, with 2.5 million — are advancing toward membership in our European family. They have both set concrete and ambitious dates for closing negotiations,” she said.
“That makes next year a moment of truth, especially for achieving core reforms, notably in the functioning of the rule of law.”
According to preliminary insights from the 2025 Progress Report on Albania, particular emphasis is placed on the role of SPAK (the Special Anti-Corruption Structure) in combating high-level political corruption and in securing final convictions.
The report also underscores asset seizures linked to corruption and organized crime, while reiterating calls for continued political dialogue on electoral reform to strengthen democratic processes.
