Elections, a priority in Albania’s EU integration process

TIRANA, Feb 25 – In its integration path towards the European Union, Albania should also fulfill duties stemming from the Stabilization and Association Agreement but pay special attention to hold the June 28 parliamentary elections in line with international election standards.
Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha insisted after meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and the EU Troika that Albania is to apply for the candidate status before the Czech Republic ends its rotating presidency at the end of June.
The moment does not seem so opportune taking into consideration the global crisis. Some of the main EU member countries, like Germany and Netherlands, believe that another enlargement of the union could increase its economic problems, unemployment and other social issues.
Albania’s President Bamir Topi said, however, on Wednesday that now it was the golden moment for the country to make the application for the candidate status adding that was made quite possible after the country got the NATO full membership in just little more than one month.
But despite all these major problems, Albania’s EU bid may suffer a delay if the country fails to meet democratic standards in the June parliamentary elections. That was made clear by Rehn’s spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy following the Rehn-Basha meeting.
Nagy explained Albania’s EU bid will depend on two main conditions — fulfilling the duties stemming from the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU and complying with international election standards in June.
In Tirana, OSCE Ambassador Robert Bosch said that the international community would closely follow the electoral process.
Bosch also said that March 15 will bring the first OSCE-ODIHR experts in Tirana, adding that many observers would follow the June polls. They will check the country’s pre-electoral efforts and infrastructure.
The Albanian government has asked the OSCE to bring to the country as many observers as possible.