Albania took the first step on the road to European Union membership Tuesday when it was granted candidate status.
The formal decision to make the Balkans state an EU candidate is expected to be confirmed by EU leaders in Brussels on Friday.
The NATO member will still need to meet reform conditions before it admitted to the 28-member bloc, with public administration, judiciary, corruption, organized crime and human rights top of the list.
German Secretary of State for Europe Michael Roth said: "Albania made some progress in the fight against corruption and the rule of law. But there is a clear expectation. Without democratic structures... without an independent judiciary, without a fight against corruption, there is no EU membership.”
Albania applied for EU membership in 2009 but has been refused candidate status four times.
Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are the other candidate countries aiming to join.
