Albania Political Crisis Threatens Its EU Future

Top EU official Stefan Fuele warned Albania’s feuding political parties on Wednesday that failure to resolve the nearly two-year long political crisis is stopping the country's EU progress dead in its tracks.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Sali Berisha and Stefan Fuele | Photo by : EC

“If a solution is not found the [European] Commission will find it very hard to provide a positive opinion in the next progress report,” said Fuele, the EU enlargement commissioner, during a press conference in Tirana.

“Albania risks falling behind its other neighbours that are also EU hopefuls,” the commissioner underlined.

Fuele’s comments came after he held talks with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, President Bamir Topi and Socialist opposition leader Edi Rama.

The commissioner also stressed the importance of May 8 local elections as a litmus-test for Albania’s democratic credentials.

“Free and fair elections are a undeniable right of every citizen and Albania should not lose this chance,” Fuele said.

“Cooperation between parties to improve electoral practices is a key to success and could bring the political stalemate to an end,” he added.

Fuele’s meetings come shortly after a series of visits to the country by EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak, following the January 21 riots in Tirana that left four anti-government protesters dead and dozens wounded.

The ruling party and the opposition have blamed each other for the violent riots, and the recent tension between Rama’s Socialists and the ruling majority of Prime Minister Berisha has aggravated an already poisoned political climate which has been in a troubled state since the disputed June 2009 parliamentary elections.

Berisha’s ruling Democratic Party and the Socialist opposition, headed by Rama, have been locked in a power struggle since the June 2009 elections.

The Socialists allege that Berisha stole the elections through voter fraud, while the ruling majority rejects the accusations as baseless and maintains that the polls were the best the country has ever held.