Albanian government says it remains committed to EU bid, reforms, but analysts worry some of the enthusiasm will be lost if Albanians see the EU as acting arbitrarily and not rewarding internal reforms
TIRANA, Dec. 22 – In a major policy speech last week, Prime Minister Edi Rama has assured Brussels that Albania continues to see joining the European Union as a primary goal, despite the delay handed down by several member states last week.
But Rama also expressed anger at how Albania had been characterized by several extreme and populist anti-EU groups in their efforts not to allow Albania to move any further in its EU integration process.
The groups, an amalgamation of extreme right-wing, anti-immigration and anti-EU parties have raised concerns over what they see as Albania’s high poverty, crime, emigration and the Muslim religious affiliation of many of the country’s citizens. Though representing a minority of European voters, these parties hold particular political weight in countries like the Netherlands and the UK, helping to shape the image of Albania in the eyes of mainstream politicians, several analysts wrote in Albanian media last week.
The religious charge in particular has caused great anger in Albania among common citizens as well as political and religious leaders, particularly from the Catholic community, who see the country as being unfairly used in an ideological conflict that has nothing to do with Albania’s tolerant and secular society, where several faiths live in harmony.
Rama vowed to keep implementing reforms after the EU Council of Ministerspostponed granting Albania candidate status until next June. The status had been previously refused twice in the past since Tirana first applied in 2009. He also said he highly valued the evaluation made by EU officials about his government’s efforts in the last three months since it came to power in mid-September after winning in the June parliamentary elections.
Albanians remain committed to joining the European Union, with about 87 percent of the Balkan nation’s 2.8 million people seeing the 28-member bloc as their country’s destination, according to polls done earlier this year. But analysts worry some of the enthusiasm will be lost if Albanians see the EU acting arbitrarily and not rewarding internal reforms.
Despite supporting statements by the European Commission, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule and the European Parliament, stating that Albania has made significant progress and what was needed, foreign ministers of five member states – the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Denmark decided against granting the status earlier this month. Forced by Albania’s supporters to set a date, the opposing members said they want to see tangible results in the fight against corruption and organized crime by June.
But after the negative decision, another strong warning came from UK’s David Cameron who threatened to veto any new members of the EU unless they saw sweeping curbs on freedom of movement. The British prime minister said he would block Serbia and Albania from joining unless there were stringent restrictions on how citizens could move across the continent.
Cameron said curbs were needed to avoid the “huge mistake” of the unrestricted opening of borders to Poland and other countries nine years ago, with hundreds of thousands coming to the UK for work.
Such a threat puts more pressure on European leaders to increase restrictions on movement.
Rama’s public complaining against European extremists seems to have the support of European parliamentarians too. Hanes Svoboda of the Social-Democratic group at the European Parliament, considered the decision against Albania’s candidate status as a negative one and a big disappointment.
Nikola Vuljanic, the parliament’s rapporteur on Albania said Albania was not to blame for not getting the status. He said that the problem rested with the EU and its future elections next year. He considered the negative answer more “of a show-off” that will be resolved in June.
But meanwhile, EU supporters say Albania should do much work and really commit itself in the fight against corruption and organized crime until June when the EU’s Council of foreign ministers convenes again to decide on its candidate status.
