ABSTRACT Albania started accession negotiations on July 19, 2022, 8 years since candidate status was granted by the European Commission. Negotiations started after a long-term waiting period for Albania compared to other Western Balkans countries. Such delays were related to the Greek veto on the North Macedonia name dispute, as well as the Bulgarian veto afterwards. But a very important factor in the case of Albania was the lack of progress in fight against corruption areas such as failing to provide track records of the investigation and trials of high-level corruption cases. State Open Negotiations with SAA Signing SAA Enter to force SAA Application to EU candidacy status EU Candidacy status Open Negotiation For EU Accession Signing the EU Accession Treaty Enter to force the EU Accession Treaty Croatia 24.11.2000 29.10.2001 01.02.2005 21.02.2003 18.06.2004 04.10.2005 09.02.2011 01.07.2013 Montenegro 10.09.2006 15.10.2007 01.05.2010 15.12.2008 17.12.2010 29.06.2012 N/A N/A Serbia 10.10.2005 28.04.2009 01.09.2013 22.12.2009 01.03.2012 21.01.2014 N/A N/A North 05.04.2000 09.04.2001 01.04.2004 22.03.2004 17.12.2005 19.07.2022 N/A N/A Macedonia Albania 31.03.2003 12.06.2006 14.01.2009 28.04.2009 24.06.2014 19.07.2022 N/A N/A 60T Tab 1: The table shows the timeline difference of some other Western Balkan countries such as Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia compared to Albania and North Macedonia regarding EU integration process. Although Albania received its candidacy status in 2014 there was not yet a formal date set to open negotiations. On 01 April 2018, the Commission issued an unconditional recommendation to open accession negotiations with Albania, in 2019 the EU Councils Conclusions set out the path towards opening accession negotiations depending on progress made in five priority areas such as the 1) judiciary, 2) fight against corruption and 3) organized crime, 4) property rights, and 5) public administration. In that way the fight against corruption was ranked amongst five key policy actions that Albania government should undertake to progress with the EU membership negotiation and would be considered always a must in the upcoming EU Commission statements related to that process. In that framework before its First Intergovernmental Conference, Albania is called upon to make further progress on electoral and judicial reforms and in the fight against organized crime and corruption. One of the main reasons for the delays in achieving the track records recommended by the EU has been the lack of consensus about the results. Best epitomised is the distant 4