Tirana Times
TIRANA, April 2 – The United States have warned Albania that the accession process into the European Union depend on the success or failure of the May 8 local elections.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Countryman supported what EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said earlier this week in Tirana that “failure to hold credible elections is a setback for Albania’s EU accession.”
“Albania’s future is in the European Union. And I hope that all Albanians keep in mind that this is the bigger story, the bigger challenge, than even the elections that are coming up next month. The success of these elections can accelerate – or a lack of success can slow down – the EU accession process,” he said Friday at a news conference. “The people need to insist – and we expect the parties to respect – the need for a mechanism, a clean mechanism, to resolve any disputes that arise on Election Day.”
The OSCE is correct that it is too late to make any major changes to the electoral code. But it is not too late for the parties to agree on fair rules of campaigning and procedure when those are outside the electoral framework, he said.
Countryman deplored that the tiny Balkan country was not succeeding on moving forward the reform agenda.
“This country has not succeeded on moving forward on a reform agenda that can make this country more prosperous – and a place where Albanians are even prouder to live. Failure in these elections – a failure to resolve any disputes – risks a continuation of that lack of progress, and lack of action by the parliament,” he said in what seemed to be more explicit wording of Washington’s stand.
Countryman also made it clear that Washington closely cooperates with the European Union when referring to Albania “because we share the same hope about the future of Albania. ”
He also repeated that the “United States continues to insist upon respect for the independent institutions under the constitution of Albania. ”
He urged Albania’s political parties to address their issues of contest “by direct dialogue.” “If the U.S., or OSCE, or the international community can generally be helpful in resolving that disagreement, we will try. ”
On media freedom, he said that “there should be no attempt, by any government, either to suppress the media or to dominate the media for favorable coverage. At the same time, I strongly believe that the media have a responsibility towards the Albanian people. And that is to avoid the kind of political rhetoric that increases the heat, but does not increase the light.”
Countryman also warned Albanian politicians not to play with their political game. “The Albanian people are able to tell the difference between a meeting that is organized to satisfy Brussels or Washington, and a meeting that is sincerely going to talk about the issues and make progress.”
Countryman was Friday in Albania, where he met with President Bamir Topi, Prime Minister Sali Berisha, opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama and other top officials.
The country’s main opposition Socialists have called for the government to resign over allegations of corruption and vote-rigging in 2009. The governing Democrats deny any wrongdoing.
