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“We must find a way to make Europe a united family,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told the German Press Agency.
Keystone
The path to the EU is long and bureaucratic for Albania and other candidate countries, but the global situation calls for faster solutions. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is calling for the swift and straightforward admission of new member states into the European Union.
He spoke on behalf of Albania and its neighbors in the Western Balkans, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, which are particularly at risk due to Russia’s war of aggression. “We must find a way to make Europe one united family,” Rama told the German Press Agency (dpa) during a visit to Berlin. To achieve this, however, the EU must rethink its approach: a political decision is needed first, with the technical details of the adjustment to follow.
“The world has changed significantly in recent years, and Europe must change along with the world.” Rama saw a “Helmut Kohl moment” coming for Europe: In 1990, the German chancellor seized the opportunity for German reunification.
Seven countries are currently negotiating EU accession: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia in the Balkans, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Rama compared them to the seven children of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“She is a mother with an incredible track record. And she didn’t tell her children that they should grow up in the neighborhood and only sit down at the table once they’re adults. No. The children grew up at the table,” said the prime minister. If you want to bring a country in Ukraine’s situation to the table, you can’t tell it that it must first fulfill this, this, and this.
In early June, the EU discussed faster integration of the Western Balkan states at a summit in Tivat, the capital of Montenegro. However, a political model has yet to be established. Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić have proposed that their countries could temporarily waive their voting rights in exchange for faster admission. For Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has floated the idea of associate membership. Kyiv rejects this and insists on full membership.
Meanwhile, the small country of Montenegro is considered the most likely candidate for rapid EU accession. It began accession negotiations earlier and has already closed many chapters on legal harmonization, Rama said. He expects Albania to conclude its negotiations in 2027. It would then be realistic for EU countries to approve Albania as a new member by 2030.
Rama is in Berlin as a guest of the German Economy’s Committee on Eastern European Affairs and is scheduled to speak today with Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU).
17.06.2026, 05:09
