Ireland ‘yes’ vote raises Albania’s EU hopes

TIRANA, Oct 5 – Ireland’s “yes” vote to an EU reform treaty gave much hope to Albania, as to other Balkan nations on their tortuous path to membership.
Referendum results on Saturday showed more than two-thirds of Irish voters backed the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, which streamlines the running of the 27-nation bloc and was seen as a step to set its house in order before it could add new members.
Albania’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha hailed the Ireland referendum over the Lisbon Treaty as a great historic event not only for the Irish people, but also for all the EU member countries and other countries, such as Albania, that aspire to join the EU, considering it the most excellent future for their nation.
“Ireland’s “Yes” vote is a major encouragement for Albanians and Albanian government for continuation of deep and all-sided reforms in achievement of standards and Albania’s EU integration,” he said.
Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta also hailed the result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty as, “Ƨreat news for the EU and a positive development for countries of the Western Balkans.”
“The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty will bring about a new era, with deep institutional and structural reformation of the EU and will open a clear perspective for its further enlargement,” said a statement.
“Albania welcomes a fast implementation of the Treaty and is convinced that the EU position towards the countries of the Western Balkans will be more concrete and unified, as we share the same integration aspirations.”
When asked about the opposition to the treaty from Poland and the Czech Republic Meta said, “ƴhe very fact that the Czech President (Vaclav Klaus) will visit Albania shows the special interest that his country takes in Albania in particular, and on the region as a whole. We hope that both Poland and the Czech Republic will finish all the procedural steps as soon as possible.”
All Balkan countries, including Albania, want to join the group but all must first meet a set of rigorous economic, political and social standards.
So far Croatia is well on the way towards membership, Montenegro and Albania have applied for candidate status, and Serbia and Bosnia hope to do so soon. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s hopes have been set back by a flare-up of ethnic tension.
“A ‘yes’ in the Irish referendum … will make the internal (EU) debate at ease, I would say, which is good for the Balkans,” one EU official said before the result was known.
The pace of change in these countries seems very slow, the dismal economy and recent reminders of the region’s violent past darken an outlook for membership in the near future.
Although their hoped-for EU membership is many years away, citizens of Serbia, FYROM and Montenegro are expected to gain visa-free travel to the EU in January, a privilege once enjoyed by Yugoslavs and lost in the 1990s.
That is not for Albania and Bosnia, and Kosovo. Albania expects to achieve that EU decision next summer and then hoping to have a visa-free regime in January 2011.
Achieving such a regime will be a high achievement to Berisha’s political career and also a strong tool in its domestic political fight, taking into consideration the local elections in 2011.