EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana reaffirms the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans and EU’s strategic partnership with the region

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council, Charles Michel, High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell, Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, as well as Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States and Western Balkan partners participated in […]

Albania joins the EU Civil Protection Mechanism

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today Albania officially becomes a Participating State in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism – the EU’s disaster risk management system. As a full member of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Albania will not only be able to receive immediate support but can also send […]

Enlargement reports: MEPs fully support Western Balkans’ European future

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia need to continue focusing on fundamental reforms, say MEPs in resolutions adopted on Thursday. In their reports assessing the progress made by Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia in the last two years, MEPs warn that advancement by […]

EU approves €100 million for the post-earthquake reconstruction in Albania

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has adopted a €100 million package to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts of Albania following the November 2019 earthquake. This funding is part of the total European Commission pledge of €115 million made at the International Donors’ Conference Together for […]

Commission reports on progress made by Albania and North Macedonia

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the Commission presented updates on the progress made by Albania and North Macedonia in further addressing rule of law related reforms, in particular in the areas set by the Council in June 2018. Both countries have delivered further tangible and sustainable results and […]

EU and international donors pledge €1.15 billion for reconstruction after the earthquake in Albania

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. About 100 delegations from the European Union, its Member States and partners, including international organisations and civil society gathered in Brussels today at the International Donors’ Conference to mobilise support for Albania after the devastating earthquake of 26 November 2019. President of the European […]

EU to host international donors’ conference for Albania to help with reconstruction after earthquake

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. “The EU is happy to announce that the donors’ conference for Albania will be on the 17 February. It’s a donors’ conference following the horrible earthquake in Albania. We want to help Albania in its reconstruction”, President von der Leyen said during the press […]

5 things to know about the Western Balkans

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Douglas Broom, Senior Writer, Formative Content When leaders of the EU’s current 28 members gathered last month to discuss membership applications from Albania and North Macedonia, there was optimism that the accession process would be given a green light. […]

Failure to open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia is a mistake

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. In a resolution adopted on Thursday, the European Parliament stresses that both countries meet the requirements to start negotiations. Parliament expresses deep disappointment over the failure to agree on opening EU accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia at the EU summit on 17-18 […]

Western Balkans: European Parliament takes stock of 2018 progress

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs assessed the progress made in Albania, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on their path towards possible EU accession on Thursday. Three resolutions evaluating the current state of play were adopted by the full House. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia MEPs […]

EU prepares for the worst case scenario as Turkey seems to be withdrawing from the migration deal

The EU Foreign Ministers convened in Brussels two days ago with Austria calling for a tougher stance towards the Turkish membership urging the EU to freeze negotiations due to the recent security crackdown in Turkey. The EU leaders will discuss the EU-Turkey refugee deal on Thursday which is directly linked to the Turkish accession talks. Erdogan […]

Migration has set EU’s political clock ticking; the stagnating economy cannot help it and Turkey doesn’t cooperate

The more action clauses a document of a Western Balkans-EU agreement contains, meant to “improve cooperation and step up consultation between the countries along the migration route”, the less cooperation there will be. That was the case last Sunday 25 October when 11 leaders of Balkan and EU countries met in Brussels. They knew very […]

Migration crisis will keep deteriorating as common EU political will is simply not there

The migration crisis in the European Union was the main issue of the Western Balkans Summit yesterday in Vienna, but was largely overshadowed by the deaths of at least 20 refugees who were found dead in a truck in Austria. This tragic event shocked everyone in the Summit who expressed the need for immediate actions by […]

The EU pretends not knowing what happens in the Western Balkans

It’s more than a joke, it’s a clear deception or even an imperialistic attitude of the European Union, towards the countries wanting to join it, to tell them that they pass Commissioner Štefan Füle‘s test of the “five fundamentals”. Of course this doesn’t apply to Turkey or Iceland, because both of them seem to have […]