Albania looks to Croatia example as country joins EU

TIRANA, July 1 – Albania’s President Bujar Nishani and also Edi Rama, leader of the Socialist party who is expected to become the next premier in September after winning the June 23 national elections, were present at the ceremonies in Zagreb, Croatia when it became a full member of the European Union July 1.
Albania has also applied and has started the road toward its integration into the big European family, a road that has taken longer possibly due to its cut ties with the whole European continent, including the east of the former communist regimes.
During the ceremonies there both the president and Rama had a series of meetings with international leaders.
One of them was U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker, who congratulated the Albanian leaders for the successful June 23 national elections, the best ever held in the post-communist country.
Albania applied for the EU’s candidate status in April 2009. It has been twice denied the opportunity from Brussels mentioning more required reforms in its public administration, the fight against corruption and organized crime, better judiciary and a spirit of compromise in the daily politics.
Albania has already fulfilled all the package of 12 key recommendations made in the annual progress reports, including holding generally free and fair elections, in line with the international standards.
There have been voices from the EU that the country’s step toward candidate status and also the launch of the negotiations may come likely in December, when the EU’s Council of Ministers convenes, following a recommendation from the European Commission in its annual progress report in October.
But there are also other voices saying that Albania may be required to do more to convince them.