EU a close eye on Albania polls

TIRANA, July 2 – The new Swedish Presidency of the European Union has made it very clear they are keeping a close eye on Albania’s polls, that they will be carefully monitored and that will decide on the country’s further progress with its application for the candidate status into the bloc.
“The final assessment of the elections will depend, to a significant extent, on the conduct of the vote count, the aggregation of results, and the handling of possible post-election day complaints and appeals,” the EU Presidency said in a statement.


The Swedish Presidency, on the first day of its six-month mandate over the EU, noted that the election campaign had taken place in a “highly polarized political environment”, reportedly characterized by a numerous allegations of electoral violations.
“The EU encourages a constructive dialogue among the political partiesŠleading to the formation of a new government committed to the reform agenda and to further progress towards the EU”, the statement said.
The EU warned that it would not proceed with the application until the latest electoral process was over.

“Orderly completion of the remaining stages of the election process is of high significance,” the EU Swedish Presidency warned.