Europe tells Albania polls are top priority

TIRANA, April 12 – It would not harm to wait until after the elections, Ambassador Helmuth Lohan, Head of the EC Delegation to Albania, said in an interview to “Vision + ” TV station last week, when asked whether it was good for Albania to apply for the candidate status until end of June this year.
“The parliamentary elections, at the end of June, will be a critical test for Albania’s democratic maturity and the appraisal of whether these elections will have been free and fair according to international standards and commitments that will have an impact on whether the European Union considers that Albania is ready for further steps towards European integration,” he said.
The Tirana government has made it clear it will apply for the candidate status within the Czech presidency until the end of June this year.
Naturally it is up to the Albanian government to decide on the most appropriate time for submitting its application for EU membership. The Albanian government has said on many occasions that it would do that in consultation with the EU Member States and the European Commission, added Lohan.
He also said that for some time, there might not be any formal reaction on the side of the European Union at all.
The ambassador said very openly that “the next step is asking the European Commission for its opinion on Albania’s application for EU membership. Now, it is very unlikely that the Member States would do that step with one element still outstanding, namely the critical test of the June parliamentary elections.”
Lohan acknowledged that “95% of Albanians support the objective of European integration; and I see very broad political consensus on this objective as well. ”
He also said that so far Albania had been doing well concerning the Stabilization and Association Agreement in force since April 1 after being ratified by all EU member countries.
Albania has smoothly implemented its obligations under the Interim Agreement that precedes the Stabilization and Association Agreement and that mainly covers trade related issues, so Albania reduced import tariffs as it was obliged to do, he said.
As an example Lohan said that Albania had adopted the European nomenclature for the classification of goods.
The SAA brings practical and political consequences.
What does that mean?
One example: from the 1st of April onwards Albanian companies can actually take part in procedures for the award of public contracts, public works contracts and that could be very interesting to construction companies in Albania.
Politically, the entry into force of the Stabilization and Association Agreement marks the start of a new era with more obligations on Albania and higher expectations on Albania’s performance, said Lohan.
On the lustration law Lohan said “there have been concerns with regard to the procedures and the substance of the law. Obviously the law must respect constitutional requirements and it must respect international standards. The law is now under the revision of the Constitutional Court.”
In any case, the European Commission encourages Albania to safeguard – also in the process of lustration – the independence of constitutional institutions, in, particular the Constitutional Court, and of judges and prosecutors – also in the context of the Lustration Law, said the ambassador.
Lohan insisted that “elections will be seen a critical test for Albania’s democratic maturity and they will very largely influence the perception within the European Union of the state of progress that Albania has reached.”
The forthcoming elections are of enormous importance for the Albanians, citizens now of a NATO member state.
“As citizens of a NATO member state, Albanians should make a very active use of their fundamental democratic right to vote. And I would therefore encourage them to apply for ID cards as early as possible.”
Expectations for visa liberalization in 2010 are more realistic than expectations for liberalization already this year.
Berisha and also Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha are insisting on their electoral tours that it is very likely this year Albania will be free to travel to Europe.
A technical mission of practitioners from the EU Member States just left Albania and they have been checking the progress made in the key areas of document security; migration, border management and asylum; and law enforcement, organized crime and corruption. They will present a report to the European Commission, and the European Commission will then prepare a proposal for visa free travel liberalization with those countries that meet the benchmarks.
“In Albania, obviously there has been so far little progress on the production and dissemination of biometric passports, because quite rightly the attention has been focused on the production of the ID cards. So this would take a little bit more time,” warned the ambassador.
Lohan’s and of course Europe’s message to Albania and Albanians was to “take advantage of these elections, demonstrate your commitment to a properly functioning democracy in Albania, go and vote, go and apply for the ID cards.”