Why due to lack of political will, Albania will likely lose its second shot at EU candidate status
By: Andi Balla
Less than a month from now, the European Commission will publish its report on the Western Balkan states’ progress toward European Union membership. Albania will learn whether it has made enough progress to become an official candidate.
Tirana was already given a negative answer following the 2009 membership application. Since then, EU progress has been hampered by problematic elections, harsh political conflict and corruption allegations. Furthermore, the country has lacked a fully-functioning parliament until very recently, when the opposition decided to take its seats in the name of aiding integration. The government also says it has done its best to do the Brussels-mandated homework following the first negative answer.
Unfortunately, these professed efforts might be too little, too late.
Though we wish and hope Albania will get a positive answer this time around, realistically, Albania’s bid is likely to be shot down again as a push for further reforms and punishment for the country’s political class, which has shown little will to put integration efforts before short-term political gains.
First, there is simply not enough time to put a veneer of an integration-driven consensus in parliament in time allotted. And, second, even with the opposition back in parliament, harsh political attitudes continue to persist.
If one is looking for a symbolic gesture of the problems Albania faces, we need to go no further than the refusal by Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama to shake hands when requested to do so by the German ambassador at a reception last week.
The title of this editorial mentions a missed opportunity because there are hardly any reasons — other than lack of internal political will — for Albania not to get candidate status.
This phase of the application requires little sacrifice from the population — things like large cuts in public sector jobs, etc., are not being requested. There is also overwhelming support among Albanians for Albania’s EU bid, as repeated studies and polls from the Albanian Institute for International Studies show.
Also, granting candidate status does not have a large backlash withing the European Union from those opposed to enlargement, experience with neighbors like Macedonia and Montenegro shows.
So then, the missed opportunity would come down to political leadership on both sides of the political spectrum, leaving ordinary Albanians between a rock and a hard place for the next two years, since there are no elections scheduled until 2013. Furthermore, with little internal democracy within the major parties themselves, there isn’t much an ordinary voter can do to change the situation.
In the region, Albania is up for the candidate status at the same time as Serbia. This does not bode well for Albania’s bid, because it’s easier for the EU to say no to both countries at the same time. Despite the fact that Albania does not have any of Serbia’s aggressive war and conflict history, Tirana could be lumped in the same ticket as Belgrade, which will not make any concessions on its stance in Kosovo even if it means no EU entry. Serbia should not get the candidate status unless it plays a more constructive role in Kosovo.
Albania has already received a negative answer once. If its application is shot down again next month, the country will suffer further setback in its tortuous journey toward European integration. The country has already lost two years in its journey. Missing this checkpoint will further delay the bid at the worst time possible — when Europe faces a large economic crisis that will further increase resistance to enlargement from within the EU.
If that happens, with no way to hold the political leadership accountable, common Albanians will simply have to accept being left behind.
