During her stay in Washington, United States of America, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Elisa Spiropali, was invited as a keynote speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where, together with renowned expert Edward Joseph, professors, students and Albanians living in the US, analyzed Albania's journey towards the EU and Albania's new role in the international arena.
Spiropali focused on Albania's transformation from the most isolated country in Europe to a candidate country that aims to sit at the European Union table through results, the implementation of a series of structural reforms. "In just 13 months, we opened all the negotiation chapters. This is the result of difficult reforms and sustained political focus. But now the hardest work begins. We are working intensively and through an agenda of objectives to close the chapters by 2027 and to secure membership by 2030. So it is about real progress in several areas such as the rule of law, the fight against crime and corruption, the strengthening of democratic institutions, etc. This is also where US support has been vital over the years: in strengthening our justice reform and transparency. The justice reform, in particular, is the deepest and most transformative reform in modern Albania," said Spiropali.
Albania's anchoring towards Western values, according to the Foreign Minister, is not a random choice nor a temporary one, but a strategic one. "It is rooted in identity and in the strong realities of security. Administrations change, policies evolve, but Albania's strategic compass cannot and will not depart from the Euro-Atlantic community," Spiropali said.
Spiropali also joined the “Western Balkans Forward” Summit, organized by the Atlantic Council. In a panel with Ambassador Philip Reeker and journalist Ilva Tare, Spiropali spoke about “The Geopolitical Imperative of EU Enlargement towards the Western Balkans”. The Minister emphasized that “the EU enlargement process is a geostrategic instrument that the EU should use for Albania and for all the countries of the Western Balkans, as a process that essentially guarantees European security”.
“The Western Balkans is no longer a post-conflict zone, but a frontline of European security and competitiveness. Regional instability, Russian influence and hybrid pressures make enlargement more urgent. This makes enlargement not only a transformative process for our countries, but also an instrument for a safer, more stable and more prosperous Europe. All Western Balkan countries should make progress in the enlargement process, because an EU-integrated region is undoubtedly safer, with more regional cooperation and more prosperous in the end. Enlargement should be treated absolutely as an instrument of security and not as a bureaucratic reward mechanism”, said Spiropali.
The Minister underlined that in addition to being a merit-based process, enlargement is a time-bound process and that any delay constitutes a security risk. For the United States too, according to her, enlargement is a strategic interest. “This has always been our position. So yes, a merit-based process, and we fully believe in this, because it should be a credible, but also transformative process for our countries, for our state and our societies, based on merit, but also time-bound. Any delay, in our opinion, constitutes a security risk. It has always been this way, but especially now it has become even more obvious. Delay creates a strategic vacuum. We have discussed this before and I do not want to repeat it, but the vacuum attracts malicious actors and influences, and this must be avoided at all costs. The question is no longer whether enlargement should proceed carefully, but whether delays have already become a security risk,” Spiropali said.
The Foreign Minister added that the enlargement process in the Western Balkans is also in the EU-US strategic interest, for many reasons: “NATO cohesion, increasing democratic stability and limiting malign influences, especially from Russia and China. For the United States, enlargement, as for us, is not charity; it is a preventive strategy and a strategic interest. And that is how we should see it. Despite the current discussions between the US and the EU, the Western Balkans could be a test for the coherence of the Euro-Atlantic alliance, and precisely here, these two dimensions come together”, concluded Spiropali. The Minister also focused on President Trump’s invitation to Prime Minister Rama to join the Peace Board, as a strong signal of political trust and recognition of the constructive international role that Albania has played in recent years in international affairs.
