EU calls for reforms

Tirana, Mar 1 – EU enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule says that Albania will receive EU candidate status only when it fulfills the 12 conditions set forth by the EU.
EU’s foreign ministers are expected to convene this Thursday and likely approve such a status for Serbia only, leaving Albania again in the line.
In another call, the OSCE’s Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth called on the Albanian politicians to resume work on the electoral reform in time ahead of the parliamentary elections expected next year.
He said that the political will for Electoral Code reform and parliamentary reform were crucial, adding that “it is very important to make good use of these crucial times through full engagement with good proposals and mutual respect.”
Wollfarth made it clear that “we are not fully there where we wanted to be at that time,” and he asked for an extension of the deadline as necessary.
Two ODIHR experts come to Tirana again to join the joint work of the lawmakers of the governing Democratic Party and the main opposition Socialists in the parliamentary commission on the electoral reform.
The OSCE-ODIHR has made 52 recommendations for the electoral reform from the 2009 and 2011 elections. None seems to have been achieved so far.
“We have seen constructive proposals coming from the SP side; we want to see also very constructive proposals from the DP side; and then when that comes together, from the majority and the opposition, then we get closer to an Electoral Code reform that deserves the name,” said Wollfarth.
Well, Berisha said there have been no proposals from the Socialists, when they accused him of blocking the electoral reform.