Western Balkans leaders reiterate desire for EU membership by 2028

BELGRADE, Serbia

The leaders of three Western Balkan states, North Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro, have expressed a desire for their countries to join the EU by 2028.

North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that his country is the only one in the world to change its name to join the bloc.

“We have been waiting for 17 years to solve the legendary name dispute with Greece. When we solved the issue, the international community supported us, (allowing) us to become a member of NATO. But we are still not fully aligned with the full accession of the European Union,'' Pendarovski said at the annual meeting that holds high-level debates on pressing global security challenges.

He said if the EU does not change a key decision-making mechanism, no one will be allowed to enter the bloc for years.

''I hope that we will get into the European Union within the next four to five years,” Pendarovski said, adding that if the EU does not change the key decision-making process and everyone says ‘yes’, no one will join the union for a decade.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said at the conference that his country wishes to begin accession talks so that it can prepare for membership.

Rama said his country is not requesting EU membership, but rather that accession talks begin, and that his government has no specific date in mind, but wants to know the requirements for negotiations.

“Negotiations are the most incredibly productive know-how transfer that a country can get in this plant to become a functioning state with functional institutions. So give us this option. So we can make our countries member states," he added.

Albania was granted EU candidate status in 2014. The EU held its first intergovernmental conference with Albania in July 2022.

Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic, on the occasion, said his country's agenda is ambitious and full of EU integration, with the goal of joining the bloc by 2028.

''The agenda is ambitious, the agenda is pro-European, with the aim to have the country into the European Union by 2028 and to become the 28th member state,” he said.

On July 1, 2013, Croatia joined the EU as the first of seven countries in the region, while Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia have candidate country status.

Negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia began in July 2022, and Kosovo submitted its application for EU membership in Dec. 2022, according to the EU parliament.

The 60th Munich Security Conference concluded on Sunday, with three days of events and debates focused on international conflicts, including Gaza and Ukraine.

This year's conference drew about 50 world leaders and 100 ministers, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, Israel's President Isaac Herzog, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, EU's Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Organizers of the Munich Security Conference did not invite official representatives from Russia, Iran, and North Korea to this year’s gathering.