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Albania Hails Milestone Deal With EU

15 06 2006  With the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement, Tirana concedes the real work starts now.

By Andi Balla in Tirana (Balkan Insight, 15 June 06)

Albania officially signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement on June 12, the most important success in the country's long journey towards European Union membership since it began in 1992.

Tirana said the signing marked the end of a 15-year transition marred by political and economical problems, and opened the start of a new process that would culminate in the country becoming part of the EU.

At the signing ceremony in Luxembourg a jubilant Prime Minister Sali Berisha hailed the event as the most important in Albania since the fall of communism.

"This signing signifies the end of a difficult 15-year transition period," he said. "This is the most serious contract we have signed in our history with the civilized nations of this continent. We now need to fully implement it and transform this contract into a true roadmap to our future."

The last time Albania signed a keynote agreement with Brussels was in 1992, when a Trade, Commercial and Economic Cooperation Agreement aimed to lift the country out of the economic ruins that were the legacy of decades of communist isolation.

The long awaited step has left Albanians relieved and delighted, but conscious of the need for Tirana to work hard in implementing the agreement.

Olli Rehn, the EU Enlargement Commissioner, said Brussels welcomed Albania 's progress in reforms, including the fight against corruption and organised crime, but noted the country still faced difficult challenges.

"The SAA indeed provides a solid framework for Albania to address these challenges and for the EU to support it doing so," he said.

"A sustained record of successful implementation of the SAA is essential and critical before considering further formal steps towards the EU."

Austria 's foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, made the same point, saying it was time for Albania to roll up its sleeves.

"It is with today's signing that the real work begins," she said at the signing. " Albania now enters into a more advanced phase in its relationship with the EU, which implies increased responsibilities. These are formidable challenges. To be successful, all political forces in Albania should unify their efforts."

It is advice that Albania 's usually quarrelsome political parties have followed in this instance. In Luxembourg , opposition officials stood shoulder to shoulder with government officials.

"We have all united to claim our birthright as Europeans. It's a victory for all Albanians," said Pandeli Majko, a former Socialist prime minister. It was under the Socialist-led government that most SAA negotiations took place, he added.

As Albania 's parliament followed the ceremony live on a large screen, both sides of the chamber burst into cheers of congratulations.

"When it comes to integration issues all Albanian politicians speak with one voice," said the speaker, Jozefina Topalli.

Most people got a chance to share in the festive mood. Fireworks displays and a large concert ended the day in Tirana, whose streets were lined with EU and Albanian flags.

Surveys show a dizzyingly high number of Albanians support EU membership by European standards, with 84 per cent saying they would vote for membership in a referendum.

Analysts said the celebrations were important because it had taken Albania a long time to sign the agreement and the event reassured Albanians that things were moving in the right direction.

Negotiations between Albania and the EU started in January 2003 but then stalled and the deadline for completion was postponed several times.

During that time Albania 's progress toward EU membership fell behind that of neighbours such as Macedonia , which signed a SAA in 2001 and has recently gained EU candidate status.

Albania 's delays reflected lack of progress in implementing key reforms to strengthen state institutions and the rule of law. Another hurdle was holding elections that met European standards.

However, international observers praised the July 2005 parliamentary poll for mostly meeting those requirements and for allowing a normal transfer of power, which has been problematic in the past.

"The signing of the SAA has caused a sort of EU euphoria," explained Gjergji Vurmo, of the Albanian Institute for International Studies.

"It puts Albania 's EU membership prospects under a new legal framework, with clear objectives and monitoring mechanisms."

The European Council said EU officials would closely monitor Tirana's record in implementing the SAA.

They want Albania to push ahead with its reforms, giving priority to such areas as media freedom, property restitution, ethnic minorities, election standards and corruption.

"Noting recent encouraging steps taken in the fight against corruption and organized crime… We stress the importance of further determined action," the EC statement said.

Albanian officials say they take these points seriously and will do what it takes to move forward.

Ilir Meta, the Socialist head of the integration commission in parliament, said hard work and cooperation was the only way to go.

"It is a great day for Albania but it's now time to prepare the ground for the next important step - getting EU candidate status," said Meta in Luxemburg.

The integration minister, Arenca Trashani, accepts Albania may take several years to achieve this, with Tirana now intending to apply for candidate status in three years.

She said the process would take a while because the SAA with Albania needed first to obtain ratification by all the parliaments of the EU member states. Pending ratification, an interim agreement would make the SAA's trade and trade-related provisions a reality as soon as possible.

"For now on, we will focus all our energies in implementing the SAA," said Trashani.

Most analysts agree Albania stands little chance of joining the EU in the next ten years, a belief reinforced by Rehn's statement the week before the signing, which said that after Bulgaria and Romania , no other countries were likely to join before the end of the decade.

Rehn said a new consensus on enlargement needed to be based on two principles - the EU needed to respect the responsibilities it had already assumed, but limits needed also to be set on what the EU could absorb.

The EU has made it clear that this includes the Balkans over the long term.

Brussels has reiterated its support for the so-called Thessaloniki agenda, which states that the future of the western Balkans lies in the EU.

The EU Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, last week said in an interview that the EU had a "historic responsibility to the Balkans".

He said unless these countries joined the EU, the pace of their reforms would slow down, worsening the region's current problems.

However, enlargement posed a real challenge for many EU states, Barroso admitted, with a growing enlargement anxiety in several member states.


Andi Balla is the managing editor of the weekly English-language newspaper Tirana Times and a regular Balkan Insight contributor. Balkan Insight is BIRN's online publication.