It is a great pleasure for me to experience Albania’s famed hospitality once again. I have visited your country several times in the past. This time, I am visiting in my capacity as Dutch Minister for European Affairs. I am keen to learn personally about developments in Albania, especially those connected with European integration.
Albania stands at a crucial point in its development. After a long period of almost total isolation from the world stage, your country has turned itself around. Your outlook is no longer only inward, it is also outward. And as an outward-looking country, you are seeking membership of the EU and NATO.
When Albania signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in 2006, it moved significantly closer to the EU. Your country has committed itself to political, economic, and legal reform. You have invested substantial human resources in amending legislation as a basis for the necessary reform programmes. But legislation alone is not enough. Implementation and enforcement are at least as important – and in these respects, Albania still faces many challenges. But your country does not stand alone. The international community is also reaching out to the Albanian people in tailoring its programmes as closely as possible to your needs and priorities.
The Netherlands, for instance, has for some years been running a development programme in Albania to promote good governance and improve the environment.
There is more to the growing ties between Albania and the EU than closer contact between Tirana and other European capitals. Personal ties have also grown between Albanians and EU citizens. The agreement on visa facilitation that will enter into force at the end of the year will give a new momentum to the exchange of ideas and experience. The Netherlands attaches great importance to such contacts, because they can help improve the negative image from which Albania unfortunately still suffers abroad. This image has its origins in communist isolationism and the pyramid crisis in the late 1990s. Albania is one-sidedly associated with trafficking in drugs and human beings and regarded as a country where everyday life is dominated by corruption and organised crime.
Your tourism industry, which is growing modestly, gives you a chance to improve that image. Too few people have encountered Albania’s rugged natural beauty and rich historical and cultural tradition. The Albanian government rightly promotes it with the slogan ‘Yours to discover’.
More tourists and foreign investors will be inclined to make that journey of discovery as Albania implements the European reform agenda.
To do so, your government and opposition need to cooperate constructively to decide which European standards have the highest priority. These standards exist in many areas, from elections, public administration, and equal rights for men and women to environmental management and the quality of drinking water.
Your government and opposition need to work together more energetically if Albania is to be taken seriously as a candidate for EU membership. But EU integration is not only a matter for politicians. It is at least as important that Albanians themselves become aware of the full meaning of EU integration. A public debate on the subject, conducted via the media, may help develop this awareness. EU integration means more than freedom for Albanians to travel more easily to EU member states. It also means that Albania has to meet the conditions for democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. The transition can be laborious and painful. To create wide public support for difficult decisions, it is essential to involve the population – via civil society or individually – in the decision-making process. Closer ties with the EU offer Albanians tangible benefits, like better public services, but they also depend on stricter rules and regulations than Albanians have been accustomed to.
For the Netherlands, it is of the highest importance that agreements be kept. Albania certainly has the prospect of EU membership. But in the Netherlands’ view, EU integration is not an automatic process: Albania will also have to keep its agreements. Your country will accede to the EU if it meets the conditions for accession laid down in Copenhagen in 1993. The Netherlands favours strict compliance with these conditions, but it also favours actively helping applicant countries comply.
In the same spirit, I hope to see fair play in the game between our national football teams in Qemal Stafa Stadium this evening. May the best team win!
