As the overdue decision on allowing Albanians visa-free travel to much of Europe approaches, a negative answer would be inexcusable
By ANDI BALLA
The next three months will be decisive as Brussels finally takes its overdue decision on whether to allow Albanian citizens to travel visa-free to most EU countries. Albanians and their friends have been working and pleading for years to be allowed to travel as free men and women to the neighboring countries. And the removal of visas would offer a huge boost in confidence for this small nation.
A quick approval would mean no more lines at the embassies, no more piles of forms, no more endless questions and stress – no more hundreds of euros wasted – and what’s more important, it would end the sense of humiliation and discrimination that Albanians feel by the different treatment they are receiving in comparison to the rest of the region.
However, any further delays in the visa-free decision would simply be in excusable and would fundamentally shake the faith of Albanians in the European Union.
While EU officials are sending out positive signals, there is some worry that the political situation in Albania could serve as an excuse for those that oppose removing visas for Albanians to have their way and cause further delays. As a result, Albanian politicians need to overcome this deadlock as soon as possible. They need to do so first the proper functioning of the country, but for the visa issue too.
That said, political fighting inside Albania cannot be used as an excuse to delay visa liberalization. EU officials have admitted that Albania has fulfilled all the technical conditions in terms of the proper documentation of its citizens. Albania has signed every repatriation agreement conceivable. It has promised to do whatever the European Union asks for, as part of its integration efforts.
So what’s the problem? Why the double standards?
Why are politics and poverty – or even the corruption and organized crime of the few tied to the common Albanian’s right to travel abroad? Bulgaria and Romania, which have enjoyed visa-free travel for years and are now EU members suffer corruption rates and have organized crime problems that are similar to those of Albania. Their GDP per capita was similar to Albania’s when they were admitted to the EU. And organized crime carried out by Serb nationals is probably just as bad for Europe as the one carried out by Albanian citizens. Many Latin American countries – on the other side of the world — surely just as poor and corrupt as Albania get visa-free travel, while the next-door neighbor, a country promised EU membership, is left in the cold.
The visa wall that has surrounded Albania since the fall of communism goes against the very foundation of European Union – the ideas of freedom, equality and strength through open economic and human cooperation.
After waiting patiently to see everyone else jump in front of the line, there is some progress, but the decision is still up in the air. It is now time to put it bluntly (with apologies to Ronald Reagan) – tear down this wall!
