Tirana Times
TIRANA, June 15 – Foreign Ministers of the European Union convened this week to talk about many issues, including the situation in Albania and its European prospects.
The ministers expressed their serious concern over the political situation in Albania.
The governing Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the main opposition Socialist Party of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama are still far from a compromise on how to resolve the opposition’s claims of vote count manipulation.
“It is high time to find a solution to the current crisis on a basis which will stand the test of time,” the foreign ministers said in their conclusions following a meeting in Luxembourg.
They reiterated that it is the responsibility of both the opposition and the ruling party to find “solutions and ways forward which will be required for the country on its EU path”.
The Council welcomed the initiative of several European Parliament lawmakers to try to help Albanian leaders resolve the stalemate but regretted that “the facilitation initiative has not yet found sufficient support to enable the Albanian government and the opposition to overcome their differences”.
Albania is practically in a deadlock since last year’s June parliamentary elections which were narrowly won by the Democrats, who now control 75 of the parliament’s 140 seats.
The socialists want vote transparency, or a partial recount of the ballot boxes where they claim there was manipulation.
They do not ask for a change of the vote results but still the Democrats say what they ask is against the laws and the constitution.
The parliament is almost totally blocked as many draft laws, especially those needed for the country’s integration into the European Union reforms, need a three-fifth, or 84 votes, which can be secured only with the opposition’s presence in voting.
The Council said it continued to be concerned about the political situation in Albania following the general elections on 28 June 2009. It welcomes the return of the opposition to the parliament in connection with the facilitation initiative by MEPs Daul and Schulz, on behalf of their political groups, which was supported by the High Representative and by Commissioner F
