As Albania’s EU membership momentum hits full steam, Brussels’ institutions and Albanian civil society speak out about what accession with current environmental scandals could mean for the EU’s credibility
The enlargement craze has sent legislative mechanisms ablaze in many Balkan and Eastern European countries, with transparency and corruption issues still behind Brussels standards.
The EU-Moldova summit amounted to a review Moldova’s progress in reforms on the path to European integration, particularly on the rule of law, fundamental rights, and the fight against organized crime, as well as aligning legislation with the EU acquis.
Arriving at the Council building flanked by European Council and EU commission presidents Costa and von der Leyen, Zelensky celebrated “a really great moment for Ukraine”, which saw negotiations on future EU membership unblocked this week.
The EU would pay a high price if it lets down Ukraine on membershipIf EU leaders aren’t going to be able to make good on Ukraine’s wish to join the bloc within 18 months, wouldn’t it be better to seriously look at ‘associate’ membership for Kyiv and others?
After years of reforms, red tape, and former Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán blocking them, Ukraine and Moldova marked a historic milestone on Monday as formal EU accession negotiations finally got underway.
Germany and France believe that joining the European Union has become too slow, often taking decades. Their solution? A more gradual path to integration. But what do candidate countries think about it?
Albania is already becoming unaffordable for many of its own citizens during the summer months. Entire coastal areas increasingly cater to foreign investors, luxury tourism, and speculative real estate markets. What was once a shared natural space risks becoming privatised scenery for multimillionaires.
![[Interview] Moldova races for EU membership by 2030: ‘We owe this chance to Ukrainians’, minister says](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/05/CG3-2400x1600.jpg)
Moldova says the war in Ukraine has helped revive EU enlargement, giving Chișinău a historic chance to advance toward membership. Moldova’s EU minister says the country is on the right track for joining the bloc by 2030, despite unresolved tensions over Transnistria and the high financial costs of alignment.
In 2003, the EU promised the Western Balkans that they would one day become members. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro are all candidates for EU membership. Why are they still waiting after more than two decades?
The depopulation situation in Ukraine is particularly acute. The country faces a dual crisis: its population has been declining for over 30 years, and the Russian invasion has only accelerated this trend. Safeguarding a country’s demographics and its future during wartime is a dilemma with no easy solutions – and EU accession might not suffice to reverse the trend.
“If the European Union accepts us, we will be happy and enthusiastic about it,” said Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan at a first-ever EU-Armenia summit.