Albania elections are key test for NATO membership hopes

BRUSSELS, an. 10 – In further pressure from the international community, NATO urged Albanian politicians Wednesday to resolve a crisis threatening local elections, warning that holding a free and fair vote was crucial to the country’s hopes of joining the alliance next year. “NATO certainly sees the electoral process in the larger sense as a critical test for membership in the alliance,” said spokesman James Appathurai. NATO is expected to invite Albania, Croatia and Macedonia to join in a summit in 2008, but Appathurai recalled that would depend on them all meeting the standards. “Until we get there, there are no guarantees,” he told reporters.
“NATO encourages all parties in Albania to work constructively towards free and fair elections,” Appathurai said. “The democratic process must work properly in order to become a NATO member, that is quite clear.”
The opposition Socialist Party had threatened to boycott local elections unless the Democratic Party-led governing coalition reformed the electoral code. The Socialists also accused the government of distributing fake birth certificates – a charge the government denied. Though the two sides agreed to postpone the vote until Feb. 18, they have failed to agree on whether to accept birth certificates distributed before November as voters’ proof of identification.