THE ALBANIAN PUBLIC'S TRUST IN SECURITY: STUMBLING BLOCKS TO EU NEGOTIATIONS 1. An overview of the key challenges to negotiating Chapter 23& 24 As Albania approaches its membership negotiations with the EU, key obstacles to the country's progress are expected to relate to the EU's"fundamentals first" approach- more specifically Chapter 23(Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) as well as Chapter 24(Justice, Freedom and Security) "The fundamentals first" approach, which was announced in EU Enlargement Strategy 2012-2013, places the focus of the EU integration process on democracy and the rule of law Also, in its 2012-13 Enlargement Strategy, the EU introduced a"new approach" to negotiations in the area of rule of law. This recognized" the need for solid track records of reform implementation to be developed throughout the negotiations process. Reforms need to be deeply entrenched, with the aim of irreversibility." Albanian citizens are very well aware of the obstacles to EU integration posed by corruption and organized crime. According to the recent Albanian Security Barometer(2019), 86.55 percent of those surveyed said that corruption and organized crime are very much responsible for the lack of progress towards EU integration. A further 9.42 percent think that these factors affect the country's integration process to some extent The new approach introduced by the EU also foresees greater transparency and inclusiveness in the negotiations and reform process. Candidates are encouraged to develop their reform priorities through a process of consultation with relevant stakeholders to ensure maximum support for their implementation. In that framework, these two important chapters address the issues related to the rule of law, which have been the backbone of the EU's strategy towards the Western Balkan(WB) candidate countries, since the sixth­enlargement wave. It should be noted that the"new approach to enlargement" that the EU defined in its Enlargement Strategy has been focused on the rule of law related to the reforms in the candidate countries and a result-based assessment or track recording approach. Compared to the previous enlargement rounds, the EU is expected to place a much greater emphasis on the quality of the implemented reforms, monitor the achieved results, demonstrate a track record of implementation of the approved legislation, improve administrative, institutional and financial capacities as well as the resources for the provision of reliable statistical information. The"benchmark mechanism approach" has also put a lot of pressure on the candidate country during the negotiations. 39