TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
For several years, what ideally should be a paved highway, where you can move forward as long as you have fuel in your vehicle and follow the directions, in Albania’s case has been a mud-filled dirt road, where the wheels keep spinning, fuel keeps getting burnt, yet the vehicle goes nowhere.
Albania’s bid or membership in the European Union has been stuck dead on its tracks for at least three years despite the fact that EU membership is something the vast majority of Albanians desire.
Somehow – between political deadlock and inability to strengthen rule of law to EU standards – both the society and its leadership have kept delaying EU membership and pushing it further and further into the future. There is no one or two people to blame for this failure and the time lost. Responsibility is far wider than that.
But the important thing is that Albania is finally getting some traction on its tires. With successful elections, reforms passed by consensus and a new government in place, the country appears ready to move again. And the first checkpoint down the road is official candidate status, a gateway to starting actual negotiations for membership – which come with more reforms and EU funding.
Albania expects and should get official candidate status by the end of the year. It is overdue and this point – after the elections – also highly symbolic, as the Albania-EU desperately needs a success story.
Recent visits this week to Albania by top European diplomats are an indication that there is increased focus on Albania at this time, as the new government takes over, in the hopes the get the country unstuck for good.
For the moment, it appears that the European Commission is willing to give a positive proposal that the candidate status be granted later this year. But it will be the EU’s Council of Ministers that will give the final verdict in December. And there are no guarantees, EU officials say.
Despite professed strong support by neighboring EU countries like Italy and Greece, for which this country is grateful, Albania faces a tougher crowd of skeptics the further north one travels up the continent. There is concern in some of these countries, because are doubtful if Albania is really ready.
What both supporters and skeptics of Albania’s EU bid realize is that the road ahead is long. Albanians don’t know how long EU membership will take. EU officials flat out refuse to give a date because, according to them, it is up to Albania to meet the criteria. The last member to enter, Croatia, took eight years from getting the candidate status to becoming a member. A realistic Albanian government is hoping to get admission in 10 years. The real time-frame will depend on a lot of factors.
But Albania needs the first push to get going. That’s the now well-deserved EU status. The country can than use the momentum to move forward with its bid. However, if there is a return to political deadlock, if corruption is left to flourish, if the laws go approved but go implemented – then is back to the flooded dirt track. And its the last thing this country needs.
