Albania has advanced another step on the road to European Union membership, with EU foreign ministers on Monday, 16 November, officially accepting the Balkan country's request for candidate status.

The ministers gave the nod to Tirana after ambassadors from the 27 member states endorsed the move at a meeting in Brussels last week.

The ball is now in the court of the European Commission, which must assess whether Albania is ready to start talks. The assessment process can last up to one year.

Albania first applied for candidate status in April, shortly after having been admitted to Nato. The country's long wait for approval stands in contrast to Iceland's application, which was waved through in a matter of days.

The EU executive nevertheless felt that Albania had made progress in the last year. Albania has undertaken serious steps to fulfill the criteria to join the European Union.

 

If it does become an official candidate state it would join Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia, but will face a series of convergence tests over a period of years.

Croatia and Turkey began their membership talks in 2005.

In announcing its decision the EU also stressed in a statement that "the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union."