Albania Asks For A Limited OSCE Mandate

TIRANA, Aug. 5 – Albania request a limited mandate for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – the judicial and the electoral reform, within a clearly defined time frame.
After thanks for “for its work and assistance in the domestic democratic developments”, Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha has sent a letter to the Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, OSCE’s chairman-in-office, confirming that Tirana was asking for a reconsideration of its mandate.
“I would like to bring to Your attention the request by Albania, already expressed at OSCE in Vienna, on the modification of the Mandate of the OSCE Presence in the country,” said Basha’s letter.
Tirana wants to launch negotiations to “pass into a new stage of relationships with the OSCE and its Presence in Albania, with the goal of meeting some of the major priorities of Albania’s European integration in mind.”
“We would welcome Your cooperation in focusing the Mandate of the OSCE Presence in Albania in two essential issues – the judicial and the electoral reform, within a clearly defined time frame.”
Basha said that was made obligatory after the existing mandate was approved six years ago, a time during which the country has had democratic progress (mentioning the NATO membership invitation and the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU).
“We note that Albania finds itself at a stage when it has to gradually take over the ever increasing ownership of these processes through the enhanced professional and steering capacities of Albanian institutions.”
In Stubb’s letter of response it is clear that such a request has been made since May when Basha was on a visit to Stockholm.
Stubb highly considers Albania’s progress in its road of integration and reassures that the OSCE will remain a long-term partner in Albania’s democratic reforms but concludes that it is up to the OSCE’s Permanent Council in Vienna to decide on a new mandate in the country.
The OSCE says that it wants to continue its work in the country and does not want to limit its activity there.
The recent public clash between Tirana and the OSCE came after Parliamentary Speaker Jozefina Topalli moved out of the hall the OSCE representatives during a hot debate there. Topalli said that was not done in purpose and nothing of the kind would happen in the future.
The OSCE is involved in many areas in the country, often overlapping the work of other international institutions there.
Tirana wants that the OSCE continue its assistance only for the election monitoring, reform in justice and the good governance projects.
THE OSCE presence in Tirana has been also involved in other projects like the civil register, media, human rights, economy, property reform, anti-trafficking, police and other issues. But the move of reconsidering its mandate was thought to be a negative one for the country, which next year holds the parliamentary elections.
OSCE’s ODIHR office is specialized in monitoring elections and it has done that during the whole post-communist period in the country.
Though Prime Minister Sali Berisha said after the media made public the parliamentary clash that Tirana would ask international organizations to send double the number of monitors in next year’s general polls, one may clearly wonder if all these moves to and against international institutions in the country were made by chance, or orchestrated to be on time for next year?
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