Albania to report to EU, aiming at visa-free regime

TIRANA, Aug 31 – Albania’s government has approved an action plan for European Union integration that will be sent to the European Commission (EC), which will be evaluating Albania’s progress.
Calling EU integration a top priority, Prime Minister Sali Berisha has reiterated that progress is largely on track. The premier says that the country is doing well in the issuance of biometric passports, but there are some other aspects Tirana should be working on as well.
He has repeatedly said during and after the election of June 28 that Albanians will have a visa-free regime within the first year of his second mandate, which means by summer next year when the EC is also expected to reconsider Albania and Bosnia for that issue.
A team of EC experts is expected to visit in October.
Albania must still establish a coast guard for its maritime border, and craft measures to confiscate the assets of organized crime members.
Unlike the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro and Serbia, there is no upcoming spot on the Schengen White List for Albania, as the country has not reached its destination on the EU “road map”, failing to roll out biometric passports, beef up border control and combat corruption and organized crime.
EU officials made it clear that Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina have the same ‘road map’, as Serbia, Montenegro and FYROM and that these countries have to commit to reforms, which were not fulfilled.
The visa liberalization cannot be given as a gift, it was made clear.
The Albanian government has created an “action plan” in order to fulfill the remaining requirements, and promised the country will be visa-free in the not-so-distant future.
The Inter-ministerial Commission for Integration met in June, trying to figure out ways to reorganize the Coast Guard, which oversees border control. The Coast Guard operates under two branches, a civilian leg controlled by the Interior Ministry, and a military leg that is part of the Ministry of Defense — both of which will merge.
The government also decided to pump money into combating corruption and organized crime.
There is an increasing number of applications for biometric passports and it is expected that at least 200,000 will have been issued by the end of the year.
Authorities hope that within a year nearly 1 million Albanians will have the new passports.
For some, visa liberalization is more than a luxury, as approximately 25 percent of Albanians have emigrated in the last 20 years, and a recent Gallup Balkan Monitor poll found 44 percent of Albanians have a relative abroad.