Albania

Just two days after Italy sent the first refugees to its two migration centers built in Albania, a court in Rome ruled that they must return to Italy. It concluded that the migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt did not come from safe countries, as the migration authorities claim, and therefore did not meet the conditions for transfer to Albania. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, commented for ČRo Plus.

A large-scale immigration centre is to be operational in Albania from August. Rome is building it to take illegal migrants intercepted at sea out of its territory until the asylum process is completed. Critics say the plan is unfair to migrants because it will disproportionately prolong their stay in the European Union when they are assessed. Is this an effective solution or is it just part of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's election campaign? Viktor Daněk, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, commented for Horizont ČT24.

The leaders of Northern Macedonia and Albania will open their countries' accession talks to the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, something for which Northern Macedonia has been waiting for over 17 years and Albania for eight. The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, commented on this fact for Hospodářské noviny. Žiga Faktor also comments on the agreement between Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria. In his view, the EU may have set a precedent by allowing bilateral historical and cultural disputes to become part of the accession process.

The leaders of Northern Macedonia and Albania will open their countries' accession talks to the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, something for which Northern Macedonia has been waiting for over 17 years and Albania for eight. The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, commented on this fact for Aktuálně.cz. Faktor also commented on the agreement between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, which opened the way for North Macedonia to join the EU. Faktor believes that the EU may have set a precedent by allowing bilateral historical and cultural disputes to become part of the accession process.

Our Research Fellow Jana Juzová spoke for ČRo Plus on Balkan non-papers. According to her, the first non-paper was much more radical than the second.

In a policy paper, Megi Bakiasi deals with the judiciary reform in Albania, including the European dimension of reform, and presents recommendations for addressing its shortcomings.

Our Jana Juzová and Žiga Faktor give their opinion on the topic of the future of European integration.

In the next entry of the Eastern Monitor series, our Marko Stojić deals with European Commission's reports on the Western Balkans and the potential candidate countries from the area.

The report from the conference ''Opening accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia: lessons of the past'' is now available.

Our Laura Skana summarized the EU enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans.