Barroso to visit Tirana in May

TIRANA, April 26 – European Commission head Manuel Barroso will visit Tirana in May 21, two weeks after the local elections.
That was learnt Tuesday at a meeting president Bamir Topi held with EC ambassador in Tirana Ettore Sequi, in which they discussed about the country’s progress toward integration and also the upcoming May 8 local elections.
Topi also exploited that meeting to repeat his call for calm and normal electoral campaign, for holding free and fair elections according to the democratic standards.
Sequi said that the elections are an important test for the country and its integration efforts into the bloc.
He also made known the fact that Barroso would come to Albania May 21 at the head of an official delegation.
The European Union has warned Albania that its ongoing political dispute over was damaging the country’s efforts to join the bloc and that 8 local elections will be carefully reviewed in Brussels. They have called for political reforms.
In 2009 Albania applied for candidate member status but last year it received a negative answer urged to work on 12 recommendations for economic and political reforms laid out by Brussels.
Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries, was ruled for about half a century by xenophobic communists who banned contact with the outside world until 1990. It is now a NATO member and seeks to join the 27-nation European Union.
The tiny Balkan country of 3.2 million suffers from a still-weak administration and widespread corruption. Ever-squabbling politicians have often plunged Albania into chaos.