Likely delay in visa liberalization fuel political debate between opposition and gov’t.
TIRANA, April 7 – Progress in achieving visa-free travel to most of Europe, an aim Albania has pursued for years, has become the latest weapon in the tug of war between the ruling and opposition parties.
A government spokesperson at the Interior Ministry said Wednesday there is no truth in the claims of the opposition Socialist Party leader, Edi Rama, and others that Albania was behind Bosnia in its visa liberalization program.
“The Interior Ministry once again guarantees the Albanian citizens that due to its commitment in fulfilling the criteria of the visa liberalization, Albania is demonstrating to European partners not only the fulfillment of the required duties but also the efficient application of the best European practices in the field of law and order, border control and safe identity documentations,” said a statement of the ministry.
The opposition Socialists have always criticized the government for not fulfilling the criteria set from the EU road map, blaming it for corruption and lack of professionalism.
It gained support in a European media article which said “Albania is unlikely to make EU visa-free list by summer,” quoting European officials saying Albania is behind Bosnia.
The EU Observer article said promises by the Albanian government to its citizens that they will be able to travel to most EU countries without a visa starting this summer are increasingly unlikely to be kept.
The European Commission has not yet presented its report about the fulfillment of benchmarks for visa liberalization by Albania and Bosnia. People from the two Western Balkan countries still need a visa to visit countries in the Schengen area after the EU last year lifted visas for Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Kosovo has not been included in the process.
According to EU sources, the commission report will be drawn up during the course of this month and a possible recommendation will not be presented before June.
Under the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, approval by the European Parliament is also needed to lift the visa regime for the two Balkan countries. The EP is clearly inclined to do so but will need at least two months to take the necessary formal steps. At the end of the procedure, it will be up to EU member states to take the final decision.
EU diplomats expect the commission experts in their report in April to confirm that Albania and Bosnia made progress in meeting conditions required for visa liberalization. But they will probably stop short of saying that both countries fully meet all criteria.
According to the sources, Bosnia is performing better than Albania. EU diplomats therefore voiced surprise at the recent request by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha to decouple the two countries’ application for visa-free travel.
“We respect this request and it is in accordance with our policy as well. We stick to the process based on own individual merit for each country,” EU Observer quoted one EU diplomat saying. “But if there is one country which will see visas lifted before the other, chances are it will be Bosnia rather than Albania.”
Albania expects the EU to give the visa-free regime this summer, likely in July and then Albanians will wait only for some more bureaucracy before being capable of freely moving to most of the European Union member countries.
“We don’t want Albanian citizens to be the victims of their politicians and we would like to lift visas for them as soon as possible. But if the criteria are not met we are afraid that some EU member states will not be convinced and it will take longer before the decision is taken,” the EU official warned, according to EU Observer.
