Swoboda calls for political cooperation on key reforms

TIRANA, Jan. 27 – Hannes Swoboda, head of the European Parliament’s Social-Democrats, has called on the Albanian political parties to cooperate on territorial reform in Albania, which would see the merger of many municipalities in Albania into larger entities that would be more efficient.
Swoboda made a visit to Tirana to meet with leftist parties his grouping partners with, but he also met with the representatives of the main center-right Democratic Party.
Swoboda lamented that Europe did not grant the candidate status to Albania in December, but explained that the EU is currently facing many challenges. He said he was almost sure that the status will be granted in June, but also urged Albania not to focus solely on that single goal, but rather work on reforms that ultimately help the country.
Territorial reform is a fundamental one, he said, and it requires wide consensus.
The two main opposing political groupings in Albania seem not to have reached any deal on the issue. The opposition Democrats asked for veto rights, and the ruling Socialists agreed, but consensus was then tied to other issues that are still under discussion.
A parliamentary commission headed by both sides and with equal members will launch the territorial reform that will change how the country is run at the local level. That will also affect how the territory is divided at election time, which makes the issue even more politically sensitive. The Democrats have not yet agreed to be part of the commission.
Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Integration, part of the leftist governing coalition, said that a direct impact of $80 million would come immediately in a way of savings from wasteful administration of tiny municipalities.