By Ditmir Bushati
At the height of student protests in Serbia, the European Commissioner for Enlargement delivered a speech on the campus of the College of Europe in Tirana, focusing on youth engagement and the role of civil society in democratic processes. In her speech, she drew a parallel with the protests of young people against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1968, stressing that EU membership should not be seen as a process driven exclusively by governments, but as a process that involves society as a whole.
The history of Czechoslovakia, however distant in time, is significant. But it does not replace the responsibility to respond to current developments in our region. The Serbian student movement offered a powerful and current example of the kind of civic engagement, democratic commitment and demand for accountability that the Commissioner was promoting. The fact that she did not explicitly refer to this movement raises a legitimate question: why were the courage and democratic contribution of Serbian students left unmentioned, especially at a moment when their actions so clearly embodied the principles her speech aimed to promote?
For many years, the EU has given priority to the illusion of superficial stability over genuine democratic progress, closing its eyes to the lack of fair conditions for political competition and the continuous erosion of democratic standards. Serbian protesters have repeatedly witnessed visits by European leaders to their country, who have given political support to the government without addressing or publicly questioning the increasingly visible democratic regression. This approach began to change, though modestly, last year, when the Commissioner for Enlargement stated that the EU shares the same demands as the student movement.
Five months after massive protests erupted in Albania against corruption and the way decisions about the country’s future are made, the EU appears to be pursuing a “split-screen” approach to Albania’s accession process. On one side, Albania receives positive headlines for the less contentious negotiating chapters. On the other, progress in the chapters related to the rule of law and the environment remains closely tied to political tensions and daily protests across the country.
For years, the debate over Albania’s EU membership prospects has centred on a number of well-known challenges: the rule of law, corruption, oligarchic capture of state institutions, organised crime and chronic institutional weaknesses. These are precisely the issues that have brought citizens onto the streets. Their demands for accountability and democratic governance should not be seen as obstacles to Albania’s European path. On the contrary, they represent an essential part of this process.
Demanding change and holding those in power accountable, the protesters are not challenging Albania’s path toward the EU. They are asking that it move forward. They are exercising precisely the rights and responsibilities that define active and responsible citizenship in a democracy. The government has tried to present the protests as supported by actors whose aim is to undermine Albania’s EU accession process. Protests and the path toward EU membership are in no way mutually exclusive. The protesters are demanding precisely those changes that the EU accession process, despite the opening and closing of negotiation chapters, has so far failed to bring: an end to the extreme personalization of power, the normalization of corruption and organized crime in public life, persistent economic inequalities, and growing social polarization. These demands deserve serious political consideration, as they are consistent with the democratic principles, values and standards on which the EU and its enlargement process are based.
It is important to acknowledge that the grievances behind the protests in Albania differ from those driving young people’s mobilization in other parts of Europe. Across the continent, student movements have increasingly emerged as a reaction to a broader climate of insecurity and growing pessimism about the future. Their disillusionment reflects a Europe trying to define its direction in the face of a series of mounting structural challenges: an aging population, rising public debt, growing pressure on social welfare systems while defence spending increases, deepening divisions over migration, and the difficulty of adapting to technological transformations that will shape the decades ahead. Faced with these challenges, governments struggle to present a convincing vision of the future to a new generation increasingly worried about its prospects and opportunities.
In Albania, the reasons for anger are different. The anger is rooted in the experience of a generation that has grown up amid repeated political scandals, persistent social and economic hardship, and the long-standing dominance of the same political leaders. Young people have seen the same problems recur again and again, with little accountability and few credible solutions. Their disillusionment is therefore not merely a reflection of uncertainty about what the future holds, but a rejection of a political reality that has remained unchanged for years. What they are asking for is a decisive break from the past and the chance to shape a different future for their country.
Overcoming the current political deadlock in Albania requires meaningful engagement and support from the EU. Previous examples of EU involvement in political situations in the region, in contrast to its response to developments in Serbia, show how decisive such engagement can be for advancing a country’s European integration. This should not be understood as interference in internal affairs. On the contrary, the EU has both the political authority and the instruments to act as a facilitator, helping to bridge the persistent gap between the rule of law as a formal membership requirement and its real implementation in society. Its role should be to encourage accountability, strengthen democratic institutions, and help create the conditions for dialogue and genuine political reform.
Although the Commissioner for Enlargement recently stressed that environmental protection and the democratic handling of protests are part of Albania’s commitments to EU membership, these statements have not yet been accompanied by concrete action. By doing so, the European Commission risks missing an important opportunity to strengthen the link between citizens’ democratic aspirations and the EU accession process. Ultimately, the rule of law cannot meaningfully be guaranteed when citizens’ voices are not truly heard and their demands for democratic accountability remain unanswered. Respect for the rule of law must go beyond formal commitments and negotiation criteria. It must be reflected in how power is exercised and how citizens’ rights are actually respected in practice.
The credibility of the enlargement process requires the EU to stand firmly alongside citizens who demand the same democratic standards it asks of candidate countries. In Albania, where support for EU membership remains strong, protesters continue to see the EU as a source of democratic principles and accountability. The prospect of EU membership remains, perhaps more than ever, the only political vision capable of securing broad and lasting support across Albanian society. However, preserving that support requires the EU to show that its commitment to democratic standards is reflected not only in the conditions it sets for membership, but also in its response to the political situation Albania is facing.
The recently published enlargement policy review aims to make the EU capable of absorbing enlargement with weaker and poorer states. The rule of law and geopolitical alignment are preconditions for this. With Albania already among the leading countries in the accession process, the EU’s influence and its power to exert leverage over the country have reached a critical point. This gives the EU an opportunity to help close the gap in the rule of law and to demonstrate a stronger commitment to Albania’s democratic future. This will ensure that reforms go beyond formal commitments and legal changes, become irreversible, and translate into tangible improvements in the lives of Albanian citizens.