Olha Stefanishyna meets with Albanian State Minister and Chief EU Accession Negotiator

On 14 July, in Tirana, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice, Olha Stefanishyna, met with Albania’s State Minister and Chief EU Accession Negotiator, Majlinda Dhuka, and State Minister for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, Adea Pirdeni.

The discussions focused on strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the field of European integration, including sharing expertise and experience, next steps in the EU accession process, and communication with EU member states.

Olha Stefanishyna thanked Albania for its consistent support of Ukraine’s European integration aspirations and its stance against russia’s full-scale aggression. She also congratulated her counterparts on Albania’s progress in EU negotiations, including the opening of several Clusters in 2024–2025, and stressed that EU accession should be merit-based.

“We are not only defending the interests of our states – we are serving the interests of the EU. The window of opportunity for enlargement has opened due to the dramatic circumstances of the war. But it exists, and we must seize this chance, not allowing bureaucracy or political manipulation to undermine the process,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

Olha Stefanishyna informed her counterparts that Ukraine is in the final stages of the official legislative screening and is ready to begin EU negotiations on three Clusters. She emphasised Ukraine’s full commitment to meeting further obligations and expressed hope for enhanced cooperation with Albania on the path to EU membership.

“EU membership is our shared goal and a vital compass for further transformations. We are grateful to our Albanian partners who stand shoulder to shoulder with us, and we are ready to continue supporting each other and learning together. I am confident that implementing the Memorandum on Cooperation in European Integration, signed in January 2025, will accelerate our countries’ EU accession, improve the quality of the negotiation process, and deepen Ukrainian-Albanian cooperation in key areas,” she said.

The Albanian side reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing practical cooperation under the Memorandum, particularly in institutional coordination, and offered support to Ukraine in areas such as information management tools for translations, legislative alignment with the EU acquis, and preparation of compliance tables.

The participants discussed challenges faced by all candidate countries, particularly regarding communicating reform progress to EU member states and maintaining support for EU enlargement.

These and other issues will be explored in greater detail during bilateral technical consultations to ensure effective coordination of the EU accession negotiation process. A key focus of the Ukrainian delegation’s visit to Albania will be studying the country’s experience in implementing judicial reform, anti-corruption policies, and restoring public trust in judges, prosecutors, and public officials. To this end, several working-level meetings will be held involving Oleksandr Ilkov, Director General of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, representatives of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, and Ukrainian experts.