Albania To Complete SAA

TIRANA, Aug 5 – European Integration Minister Majlinda Bregu believes that all the remaining countries will ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement at the beginning of autumn.
She hopes that Germany and Greece will ratify it while France has yet to fully complete it.
“We shall have a full completion of the ratification process of the remaining countries at the beginning of autumn this year,” she said referring to promises made from capitals still not ratifying it.
The government had said before they hoped to complete that process at the first half this year.
Albania signed the SAA two years ago and now there are increasing voices, especially from the opposition that it should also ask for the candidacy status.
The government pledges that this year has been a very efficient one in fulfilling the request from the agreement.
“The first six months have been months of the deepest constitutional and legal reforms in the country, of making concrete the reforms, successfully consolidating the fiscal performance,” said Prime Minister Sali Berisha at an inter-ministerial meeting for integration.
But he also acknowledged that much remains to be done.
Brussels seems very reluctant to accept such optimistic stands on the tiny Balkan country.
In a recent reference made public from the BBC Albania was still considered to be walking very slow in the integration process and that it could hardly be accepted to the bloc before 2015.
The EU still considers that Albania is very slow in the fight against corruption and organized crime.
Albania and other Balkan countries should first fulfill the required criteria on democracy, rule of law, market economy and the economic and political ones.