TIRANA, June 16 – EU ambassador to Albania Romana Vlahutin has urged constant dialogue to accelerate Albania’s EU integration process. Speaking at a forum on Thursday, Ambassador Vlahutin said “the question of Europe, of Albania in Europe or of European Albania is something that first and foremost requires constant dialogue and somehow it seems that dialogue is one of the hardest things to accomplish.”
Albania’s key political forces have been engaged in tough talks of more than one year but have been unable yet to break a deadlock into a long-awaited justice reform, a precondition for Albania to open accession talks following the country’s EU candidate status in mid-2014.
“True dialogue in a democracy requires two key parameters such as introspection and respect,” said Vlahutin.
Writer and former diplomat Besnik Mustafaj, who was the forum’s keynote speaker, delivered a speech focusing on present-day Albania from the perspective of Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the EU.
“There is no integration without discipline,” said Mustafaj, also a former foreign minister, noting the country’s huge gap in the implementation of laws.
“I don’t believe Albanian politicians are undisciplined, but they don’t use discipline to achieve the goals of what is known as common interest. One of the reasons why the Albanian politicians are undisciplined is that pressure from civil society, public opinion and the media is not at the right intensity required by a modern society aspiring to join the EU,” said Mustafaj.
The meeting at the Tirana Times bookshop conference hall took place as part of the second meeting of Integration Empowers Albania Club with Ambassador Vlahutin and Besnik Mustafaj.
