Kos to Corriere della Sera: Albania and Montenegro lead the EU enlargement process

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has said Albania and Montenegro are currently in the group of countries that have made the most progress on the road to EU membership.

In an interview for Corriere della Sera, Kos said the EU enlargement process is marking this year more results than in the last 25 years. According to her, after Albania and Montenegro come Moldova and Ukraine, while for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia the process is still in earlier stages. Serbia, according to her, remains a case apart.

Kos said there currently exists a “window of opportunity” for EU enlargement and that it could stay open beyond the end of this year. However, she warned that next year elections will be held in several large European countries, including Italy.

According to the European commissioner, the EU also faces a geopolitical challenge. Russia’s war in Ukraine, instability in the Western Balkans and competition for influence with countries like China make enlargement an important issue for Europe.

Kos stressed that candidate countries must meet the criteria and implement the required reforms, but the EU itself must also prepare for a future enlargement. She mentioned Montenegro as a country that could meet all the criteria by the end of this year or at the beginning of next year.

As for Ukraine, Kos said January 1, 2027, the date set as a target by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is not achievable. She underlined that EU membership is based on merit and fulfillment of the criteria and that there are no privileges or lower standards for candidate countries.

However, according to her, Ukraine is waging a war for survival and for this reason the EU has an obligation to help it. Kos hopes that by the end of this year as many negotiation chapters as possible will be opened for Ukraine.

The commissioner also spoke about the idea of gradual integration of candidate countries, stressing that this should not be seen as a replacement for full membership. According to her, countries that progress in reforms can benefit from a greater rapprochement with the EU even before membership.

Regarding Serbia, Kos was critical of the glorification of war criminals, the denial of genocide and what she described as revisionism, referring also to Ratko Mladić’s funeral. She said Serbia must show by deeds, and not only by words, how serious its commitment to the EU path is.

For Albania and the Western Balkans, Kos praised Italy’s role in supporting the enlargement process. She said Italy has good relations with the countries of the region and that the political support of member states is necessary to move the process forward.

In the interview, Kos also spoke about reforming the European Union itself so that it can function with a larger number of member states. Among the proposals discussed is the simplification of decision-making procedures and, in some areas, the move from unanimity to qualified majority voting.