The EU should approach enlargement as a strategic investment in peace, stability and security in Europe, Chair of Cyprus’ House Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Giorgos Karoullas, in remarks during the Interparliamentary Conference on the Strategic Agenda for EU Enlargement and Albania’s accession, held in Tirana, according to a statement by the House of Representatives.
In his remarks on EU enlargement and Albania’s progress towards EU accession, Karoullas ‘underlined that the European perspective of the Western Balkans, particularly in today’s unstable international environment, constitutes a strategic and geopolitical investment in strengthening European stability and resilience’, the statement said.
He underlined, it adds, “that the enlargement process must be protected from external interference and from any attempt to promote principles and values that are not compatible with the EU acquis, while stressing that the progress of each candidate country in the accession process must be directly linked to its full alignment with the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy, thereby serving the EU’s broader objective of strategic autonomy.’
It also said that Karoullas noted that EU enlargement was one of the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU during the first half of 2026 and that, in this context, Cyprus acted as an honest broker, ensuring that the enlargement process remained credible, fair and merit-based, grounded in the EU’s common principles and values.
Regarding Albania’s EU accession process, Karoullas stressed that the progress made to date demonstrates the country’s determination to undertake the necessary reforms in order to align itself with all the obligations arising from its accession path and from EU law and that the EU must continue to support the country’s European path, while maintaining a credible and merit-based accession process based on concrete achievements and reforms.
Karoullas stressed that the success of the accession process should not be assessed solely on the basis of the chapters that have been opened or provisionally closed, but also according to the extent to which European standards are incorporated into Albania’s institutions and the lives of its citizens, since the reforms being carried out today will determine the strength and resilience of the country as a future EU Member State, it adds.
Furthermore, in his remarks during the discussion on enlargement as a strategic driving force for reform, stability and security, Karoullas noted that enlargement constitutes a powerful means of promoting peace, stability and prosperity throughout Europe.
Karoullas also ‘stressed’ that the EU should not approach enlargement as a bureaucratic process, but as a strategic investment in peace, stability and security in Europe in the face of the threats it faces along its external borders. Europe of tomorrow, he noted, will be judged by the Union’s ability to remain strong, democratic and faithful to its values, while the role of national parliaments is decisive, particularly in strengthening democratic legitimacy, solidarity and a common European vision, it said.