Tirana Times
TIRANA, March 30 – The European Union on Wednesday warned Albania that the long political dispute is threatening its reforms required for the integration into the bloc.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has told Albania the May 8 local elections are key for the political criteria.
“Albania cannot miss the opportunity that it can conduct elections in line with international standards,” Fuele said at a news conference in Tirana after meeting with President Bamir Topi, Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama. “The political stalemate constitutes a serious obstacle to the fulfillment of the political criteria and it is holding back important reforms,” Fuele said.
Last year Brussels told Albania, that has applied for the candidate status, to work on 12 recommendations in economic and political reforms before it progressed toward membership.
Fuele said that addressing the Commission’s recommendations from last year report were “essential” for Albania and he urged political parties to continue a “constructive cross-party cooperation,” the dialogue and improve the parliament’s work along the integration efforts.
“If no solution is found, the Commission will not be able to make a positive assessment for Albania in our next progress report,” he said.
Fuele said the stalemate “must be resolved as it is a shared responsibility” and warned that “signals of willingness to compromise are needed.”
“We encourage both sides to promote a constructive dialogue and to improve the functioning of parliament,” Fuele said.
The tiny Balkan country is to hold local elections May 8 amid fierce political rivalry, with the opposition Socialists demanding that Berisha’s conservative Democrats hold early elections over allegations of corruption and vote-rigging in the 2009 general election. Following Albania’s application to join the European Union, the European Commission published its Opinion on Albania’s application for membership of the European Union and set out 12 key priorities, which Albania needs to act upon in order to progress on its European path.
Fuele also attended a seminar co-chaired by the Albanian Ministry of European Integration and the European Commission, with participation of representatives of government and other Albanian institutions including the judiciary and members of the Parliamentary Committees of European Integration and Foreign Affairs including the opposition. Its aim will be to provide feedback by the European Commission on the Action Plan prepared by the Albanian government to address the key priorities of the Opinion.
Fuele underlined that the political crisis in the country is hampering the reforms toward the EU. He said that the political dialogue would help the country to move forward and so it will have a free way towards the EU. He also added that the elections should be free, fair and transparent.
In an interview to an Albanian daily EU President Jose Manuel Barroso also warned Albania’s feuding parties that democracy cannot be built through conflict.
Albania has been mired in political crisis since disputed elections in June 2009, the longest the Balkan country has seen in its post-communist democracy.
In December, Albania’ s request for EU candidate status was rejected.
Instead, Brussels urged Tirana to step up its fight against corruption and also expressed concern about the political crisis.
