Albania fails to pass EU-required laws

TIRANA, Nov. 15 – The Albanian parliament on Thursday did not pass the three laws – on the Supreme Court, the admini-stration and the parliamentary procedures – which were a test and also a key requirement for its progress toward winning the European Union’s candidate status.
In October, the European Commission made it clear that passing those three laws was of fundamental importance for the country. But it also added that having free and fair elections next year is decisive for its democratic progress. Albania has asked for the candidate status since 2009 but has not received a positive answer so far.
The opposition Socialist Party of Edi Rama has long said that it is useless to pass new laws at a time when the government does not respect and apply the existing ones. They said that passing them is not the main requirement from Brussels. And they put ahead the case of the Fieri district, saying that the government first tried to grab leadership of the district’s council and then the courts decided in the opposition’s favor, but the Democrats do not respect and apply those verdicts.
The government of the Democratic Party blames the Socialists and accuses them of stalling the country’s EU prospects. They insisted through their leader and Prime Minister Sali Berisha that they can discuss only the three laws on the table and strongly pushed for their passing.
Both sides have offered solutions, but to no avail.
The European Parliament was expected to pass a memorandum late Thursday calling on the Albanian political leaders to resolve the confrontation and not delay their move toward the bloc by wasting time.
The same call has been made continuously by western diplomats in Tirana and abroad.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Philip Gordon said that Tirana is at a critical crossroad and referred back to what his superior, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in her speech at the Albanian parliament during her visit earlier this month. But he also repeated that holding free and fair elections is of fundamental importance.
This was also restated Wednesday by U.S. Ambassador to Tirana Alexander Arvizu.
“The United States believes Albania really is at a critical crossroads,” he said. “The 2013 elections are going to be a critical test for Albania’s democracy. The U.S. government urges theAlbanian leaders to push forward the reform agenda. And I think the agenda incorporates many elements, but there are two in particular. One is for specific pieces of legislation like the three that you mentioned. But the second element that is actually even more important is establishing a track record of fighting corruption and promoting better governance. But they can’t be separated out; they have to go hand in hand.”
OSCE Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth also made the same call. “It would be a disappointment, first of all for the Albanians themselves, because we understand that the European integration path is a national goal,” he said Thursday, adding that “next year will be again also a decisive year, because we will see general elections.”
“Next year is an election year, but then more time apparently will be needed to move ahead on the European integration path and that could mean also that the time that is passing by is no so well invested in the reform process,” he said.
EU Ambassador Ettore Sequi also made the call to the political groups to cooperate and pass the laws and also look ahead for free and fair elections next year.
It seems that the intensity of the international pressure was not missing in the country but again it did not reach good results or positive ones immediately.
True there is still time until Nov. 20, the time limit, to pass these three laws. But there seems to be no solution or compromise between the two rival political groupings as this newspaper goes to press.