Butler: Elections, no connections with visas

Interviewed by Top Channel, Spokesperson for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule corrected her declaration of one day ago, rejecting that the European Commission had understood the Albanian Government difficulty to equip all Albanian territory with instruments that verify the identity cards just one month before elections.

Natasha Butler, spokesperson for European Commission:

“The comments that I announced yesterday might have been misinterpreted. This is why I want to make it very clear that the European Commission sees no connection between the visa liberalization obligations, successfully concluded last year, and the appropriate organization of local elections. The election preparation is a responsibility of the Albanian authorities and it is a short-term priority for Albania, in order to guarantee free, honest and transparent May 8th local elections, in full accordance with European and international standards. This is one of our main criteria on the meeting Opinion.

Yesterday we had very close contacts with the Albanian authorities. They withdrew the publication from the official European Integration Ministry web page, after our conversation. I felt it was necessary to clarify our position on the SAA meeting that was held two days ago, and that there is no connection between the visa liberalization process and local elections.

I also want to make clear that it is really essential to guarantee in time, before the elections, a constructive cooperation between the government and the opposition. Albanian government and the opposition should not lose this opportunity. We have clearly specified that it is essential for the Opinion on Albania to achieve real progresses on the European Integration journey this year. Local elections should fulfill the OSCE and international standards.

Arta Tozaj, TCH: Natasha, you declared yesterday that the Commission had understood the Albanain part comments for the lacking of funds and necessary time to equip Albanian electoral commissions with instruments that verify identity cards. Are you correcting yesterday’s declaration?

Natasha Butler: “Yes, I absolutely correct that position. There is no connection between these separated processes. On one hand, we have the observation process for the local election performance. For us, this performance should achieve the OSCE standards. OSCE and ODIHR have made clear recommendations to the Albanian government. We expect the government to follow these recommendations. On the other hand, we have the observations for the Visa Liberalization Guide implementation. As you know, Albania’s visa regime was lifted with the voting approval of the European Council Ministers, on November 2010. These are two separate things. While we are speaking, the appropriate performance of the local elections lies in the hands of the Albanian authorities. It is their responsibility, to do their job and guarantee that these local elections are in full accordance with the international standards.”

The former press release of the Integration Ministry quoted the European Council saying that they had understood the financial and time related difficulties for equipping all voting centers with identity card verification instruments. This declaration was rejected by Natasha Butler, who said one day ago that if there would be any problem with the identity cards, Albania would risk not only elections, but also the current visa-free status.

Top Channel