Fule repeats call for cooperation in the Albanian political class, saying ‘inclusiveness is essential’ to the EU integration process
TIRANA, March 8 – Albania and the European Union held last week the second High Level Dialogue meeting on key priorities for Tirana, which is hoping to get EU candidate for membership status this June.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, who was present during the discussions in Tirana, said the meeting “confirms our commitment to work together in the process of Albania’s EU integration, enhancing its chances for success.” But he added that needs an Albanian pay back with “more engagement.”
He repeated a call for cooperation to the Albanian political class saying “inclusiveness is essential in the process.” And Fule made it clear that “the currently increasingly confrontational political climate may put at risk Albania’s achievements as the member states will look closely at how the government and opposition interact and at the results of this interaction.”
Lack of consensus and confrontational politics has caused major delays for in Albania in its progress toward European integration, despite the fact that most of Albanians and also all political parties agree that EU is the best prospect for the country.
Last December, the EU decided to postpone the candidate status decision for Tirana following a request by five countries that said they needed more proof from the new government in meeting its EU obligations.
“It is now up to Albania to maintain and increase the reform momentum and address a number of challenges in the areas under the key priorities, with particular attention to the rule law. The fight against corruption and organized crime and the judicial reform are of the utmost importance. The reform of the public administration, enhancing the respect for human rights, including of the Roma, anti-discrimination and property rights are also important,” said Fule.
The meeting agreed that it is essential evidence of the results achieved with a focus on the rule of law, including the fight against corruption and organized crime.
Albania has compiled a roadmap on the five key priorities which it should fulfill and comply with until June.
EU member countries are holding the parliamentary elections in May and there will be a new executive in Brussels that will decide on the country’s status later in June.
Albanian and European parliamentarians will also hold in Strasbourg the 7th meeting to discuss on the main issues for the country along its efforts toward integration into the EU.
Fule and the Albanian government agreed to hold the next, the third high level meeting in early June to discuss on and report on the implementation of the roadmap.
Albania remains still quite distant from full EU membership. Critics say the Albanian justice remains weak and unwilling to prosecute former top level officials, including former prime ministers and former members of the executive branch, despite a few efforts but so many informal charges they have made against them.
So long as Albania has corruption, impunity, traffic of influence and an unjust judiciary is not addressed, admission to the EU is unlikely, integration experts say. Transparency International, which advocates good governance and an end to corruption, wrote in a recent report that “in Albania corruption is registering a new physiognomy in a favorable political environment, with characteristics like a new systems for money laundering, financing of political parties from illegal activities, the capture of the state through the control of a procurement and privatization, human and narcotics trafficking and the impunity of high State officials before the justice system and the law.”
