With elections behind, Albania hopes to move EU bid forward

TIRANA, July 10 – Following the smooth elections on June 23 that ended with the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha conceding defeat after eight years in power, there are now hopes in Albania that the country will receive a boost in its EU membership bid, soon obtaining EU candidate status.
The EU integration was on top of the electoral campaign for the leftist coalition led from the Socialist Party of Edi Rama. They pledged to get the EU’s candidate status this year and also likely launch membership negotiations.
It has been clear from the EU that a positive assessment of the election was critical for progress on Albania’s EU accession path.
In a joint statement after the polls, EU commissioners Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule said the electoral process was fair and the new government should begin to work on Albania’s EU integration.
“It must be ensured that the country’s reform agenda is vigorously pursued and the European integration process can gain renewed momentum,” Fule and Ashton said.
In a meeting this week that the working group of the new government held with western ambassadors, they were pleased with the fact that the European integration would be part of each step in the new government program.
For the moment there is general satisfaction that the election process has gone smoothly.
There was only one separate incident the election day when a Democratic Party candidate was injured in an exchange of fire in a northern town which left the opponent supporter of the then-opposition dead.
A preliminary report on the election by the Office for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights also noted the positive electoral progress in Albania, despite violence that left one opposition supporter dead and a candidate for parliament wounded in a shootout.
Albania has already passed or voted for the 12 key recommendations made from Brussels after it applied for the candidate status in 2009.
The last three of them were passed by the parliament in an extraordinary session held at the end of May, after it was dissolved for the electoral campaign.
But that does not seem to be the last step toward the candidate status. Europe will also see closely how smoothly the government transition will be done and then decide.