Tirana Times
TIRANA, May 18 -The European Union has sent a set of new questions to the Albanian government along the questionnaire on the candidate status that Albania had already completed.
After the ratification and entering into force of the Stabilization and Association Agreement last year, Albania applied for candidate status. In December, Brussels sent a set of 2,284 questions, which Albanian authorities completed last month.
Now Brussels has sent a set of 170 questions on some 700 issues it wants more clarification from Tirana, according to Integration Minister Majlinda Bregu.
Bregu said that the new questions had nothing to do with the answers they have given in thousands of pages handed over to Brussels last month.
She said the fact of sending such additional questions in such a short time shows Brussels is seriously considering Albania’s application for the candidate status.
Bregu said the new questions covered the way members of the Constitutional Court were elected, the object of the investigative parliamentary commissions and also they needed a translated penal code of the country.
Such issues show also the direct link and concern Brussels has on the tiny Balkan country’s political crisis on the transparency of the general elections.
“The fact that the process is going on, the preparation of the opinion and the avis communitaire from the EC to be later sent to the Council of Europe is proceeding, means that the Albanian file is not a closed and forgotten one let to be considered later,” she said, adding they were prepared to have requests for more clarification from Brussels after handing over the set of answers to the questionnaire. Bregu said that the government is supposed to give back the answers until June 10, adding many EU missions are expected to check the situation of the Albanian administration.
“We are not let aside, we are not forgotten but we are proceeding into a relation which is the safest contractual tie with the European Union,” she said.
Tirana hopes to have a positive answer on that likely this year.
