Elections are a critical test

Interview of Ambassador Helmuth Lohan, Head of the EC Delegation to Albania, for “Vision + ” TV channel

By Valbona Kurti

1- A hot debate is currently being held in the Albanian political environment on the timing for the EU candidate status application; should it be within the Czech Presidency, meaning before the elections, or during the Swedish presidency, meaning after the elections. As the representative of the EU in the country what is the best time to put this step forward considering as well the international crisis factor?

It would not harm to wait until after the elections.

The parliamentary elections, at the end of June, will be a critical test for Albania’s democratic maturity and the appraisal of whether these elections will have been free and fair according to international standards and commitments that will have an impact on whether the European Union considers that Albania is ready for further steps towards European integration.

But at the end, of course it is up to Albanian Government to decide on the most appropriate time for submitting its application for EU membership and the Albanian government has said on many occasions that it would do that in consultation with the EU Member States and the European Commission.

2- If we apply soon, what are the consequences for this action?

For some time, there might not be any formal reaction on the side of the European Union at all.

Actually what happens is that the EU Member States decide on when to do the next step and the next step is asking the European Commission for its opinion on Albania’s application for EU membership.

Now, it is very unlikely that the Member States would do that step with one element still outstanding, namely the critical test of the June parliamentary elections.

3- How do you see the lack of unity within the Albanian political class on crucial issues such as the European integration and the application for the candidate status, issues that in principle deserve consensus?

I don’t see any lack of unity.
I see that 95% of Albanians support the objective of European integration; and I see very broad political consensus on this objective as well.

4- Have Albania fulfilled the obligations deriving from the SAA? What is the pace of the reforms in this regard?

So far, Albania has been doing relatively well.

Albania has implemented smoothly its obligations under the Interim Agreement that precedes the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and that covers mainly trade related issues, so Albania reduced import tariffs as it was obliged to do,  and just to give another example: Albania has adopted the European nomenclature for the classification of goods.

5- On the 1st of April the SAA entered into force. What does this mean for the Albanians?

There are practical consequences and there are political consequences.

Now, just to give you one example on the practical consequences, from the 1 of April onwards Albanian companies can actually take part in procedures for the award of public contracts, public works contracts and that could be very interesting to construction companies in Albania.

Politically, the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement marks the start of a new era with more obligations on Albania and higher expectations on Albania’s performance.

6- The Lustration Law is the most criticized “en block” from the international representatives in the country. The law is currently suspended by the constitutional Court, but it does still generate debate. What is your opinion?

The law pursues a noble objective.

But there have been concerns with regard to the procedures and the substance of the law. Obviously the law must respect constitutional requirements and it must respect international standards. The law is now under the revision of the Constitutional Court; I do not want to guess what the opinion of the Court will be.
In any case, the European Commission encourages Albania to safeguard – also in the process of lustration – the independence of constitutional institutions, in, particular the Constitutional Court, and of judges and prosecutors – also in the context of the Lustration Law.

7- How do you see the coming general elections?

As I said before, the elections will be seen a critical test for Albania’s democratic maturity and they will very largely influence the perception within the European Union of the state of progress that Albania has reached.

8- On your knowledge how is being processed the identity card distribution? How much of importance the process in itself carries for the Albanians?

The forthcoming elections are of enormous importance for the Albanians, citizens now of a NATO member state. And I would like to take advantage of this occasion to congratulate all Albanians on their country having become a member of NATO.
As citizens of a NATO member state, Albanians should make a very active use of their fundamental democratic right to vote. And I would therefore encourage them to apply for ID cards as early as possible.
On the other hand this means that Albanians who are eligible to vote and who do not have international passports have the material possibility to obtain ID cards in good time before Election Day. At the end it is this result that counts.

9-The Albanian Government is optimistic for the visa liberalization within 2009 (2010 at the latest). Is this a realistic expectation? When do you believe Albanians can freely travel?

Expectations for visa liberalisation in 2010 are more realistic than expectations for liberalisation already this year.
A technical mission of practitioners from the Member States just left Albania. And they have been checking the progress made in the key areas of document security; migration, border management and asylum; and law enforcement, organised crime and corruption. These experts will present a report to the European Commission, and the European Commission will then prepare a proposal for visa free travel liberalisation with those countries that meet the benchmarks.
In Albania obviously there has been so far little progress on the production and dissemination of biometric passports, because quite rightly the attention has been focused on the production of the ID cards.  So this would take a little bit more time.

10- At the end of this interview do you have a message for the Albanian citizens?
Well my message to the citizens of Albania around us, but not only here, over all in Albania and in particular in those regions that are a bit further out from the centers, my message to them is: please take advantage of these elections, demonstrate your commitment to a properly functioning democracy in Albania, go and vote, go and apply for the ID cards.
Source: Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Albania

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Posted by Gjergj Erebara on Apr 10 2009. Filed under General News, Politics, Top News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry