Montenegro has temporarily closed more than half of the negotiation chapters for accession to the European Union, while Albania has completed the first three chapters. During the intergovernmental conferences held under the Irish presidency of the EU Council, Ukraine has opened the second group of negotiation chapters, “Foreign Relations”, reports IPN.
During the 28th conference, Podgorica temporarily closed negotiations for Chapter 8 – “Competition Policy” and Chapter 29 – “Customs Union”. At this moment, the Balkan state has opened all 33 negotiation chapters, of which 18 are provisionally closed.
For Albania, the ninth conference marked the transition to a new stage in the accession process. The country managed to provisionally close the first three chapters: chapter 25 – “Science and Research”, chapter 26 – “Education and Culture” and chapter 30 – “External Relations”. Progress was possible after, in May, the Commission confirmed that Tirana had met the intermediate criteria for cluster 1, “Fundamental Values”.
At the same time, Ukraine has opened negotiations from cluster 6, “External Relations”, which includes the chapters “External Relations” and “Foreign Security and Defense Policy”.
