Since September, the opposition Socialist Party (SP) has refused to participate in any legislative work to protest alleged fraud in the June 2009 general elections.
"The EU perspective for Albania is at stake," said Spanish Ambassador Manuel Montobbio de Balanzo, after a meeting of EU ambassadors in Tirana. Spain currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc.
Albanian President Bamir Topi organised a meeting between SP leader Edi Rama and Prime Minister Sali Berisha on Saturday, in a bid to end the political gridlock. The two leaders failed to reach a compromise, but have reportedly agreed to further talks.
A Council of Europe mission is expected to visit Tirana within days to discuss ways to resolve the crisis.
Less than a month after joining NATO on April 1st last year, Albania submitted its formal application for membership in the EU. It now has to receive a positive European Commission (EC) assessment of its preparedness for accession talks to be recognised as an official EU candidate.
The country was plunged into a political crisis right after the June 28th parliamentary elections. Berisha's right-wing Democratic Party (DP) and its coalition partners won the vote and a second term with a marginal 1.5% lead over the SP, led by Rama, the mayor of Tirana.
The SP contested the election results, claiming they were manipulated, and called for a thorough investigation into the poll and a recount of votes, but Berisha rejected that demand.
As a result, the SP, which won 65 of the 140 seats in parliament, has been boycotting the assembly since September, thus paralysing the adoption of EU required laws.
While the ruling DP-led coalition has a 75-seat majority in parliament, most of the bills the country must pass to make further progress on its EU integration path would require a three-fifths majority -- 84 votes.
In its latest report on Albania's accession progress, issued in October, the EC said the country needs to strengthen the rule of law and judicial independence, as well as ensure media freedom.
Related ArticlesA month later, former EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned Tirana that it could hardly hope for a positive evaluation from the EC if the legislative process remains deadlocked.
"If the parliamentary boycott were to continue for long, it would have a negative impact on the analysis of the political criteria and thus have negative ramifications on the chances of being granted candidate status," Rehn stressed after meeting with Foreign Minister Ilir Meta on November 11th.
During a visit to Tirana on Tuesday, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, whose country takes over the rotating EU presidency from Spain on July 1st, supported Albania's bid to join the bloc.
"We think Albania's adhesion to the EU is a key factor for stability in the Balkans," he said, also urging Tirana to strengthen its efforts towards meeting the EU visa liberalisation requirements so that Albanian citizens may travel freely to most of Europe.
Source:setimes.com/
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