TIRANA, Sept. 13 – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has repeated his views that Western Balkan states will take a long time to join the bloc, but that eventual membership is needed to prevent conflict in the region.
Speaking in his annual the State of the European Union speech, Junker said a credible enlargement perspective must stay in place for the Western Balkans
“If we want more stability in our neighborhood, then we must maintain a credible enlargement perspective for the Western Balkans,” Junker said, adding “it is clear that there will be no further enlargement during the mandate of this Commission and this Parliament.” The mandates end in 2019.
He added: “No candidate is ready yet. But thereafter the European Union will be greater than 27 in number. Accession candidates must give the rule of law, justice and fundamental rights utmost priority.”
Albania, through Prime Minister Edi Rama, and other Western Balkan states have expressed repeated frustration that their application to join the European Union is being dragged in time on purpose as the bloc deals with its internal problems relating to Brexit and the economic crisis.
“The opening of negotiations next year is well-deserved by Albania, and it is unjust that this issue continues to be dragged for reasons that are not really related to Albania, by giving new excuses at the every step,” Rama told parliament in a speech this week.
Albania recently downgraded its EU Integration Ministry by turning into a department dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Earlier in the week EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said most Albanians still support EU integration but they must take action to convince Brussels.
“It comes through tireless hard work, continuous reforms, as well as broad and intensive dialogue between all parts of society. This is largely the task of people like you, preparing to play an important role in the accession process,” Hahn said in a speech. “You will need to come up with solutions; you will need to ensure accountability of governance, not only to bring Albanian closer to the European standards but to make the EU a reality for every citizen of your country.”
Albanian President Ilir Meta said this week while in a visit to Italy that the Western Balkans’ EU membership is still the only possible option for the region not to slide back into the ethnic conflicts of the past.
He said that Albania hopes in a Brussels decision to launch the accession negotiations as soon as possible in view of the implementation of the justice system reform and the holding of problem-free parliamentary elections.
Meta added that an EU perspective guarantees peace and prosperity for Albania and the entire region, and if the EU integration process was to fail the Western Balkans countries would go back to the ways of the past, marked by nationalism and bilateral conflicts.
