Mixed messages keep coming from Germany regarding the political situation in Albania.
The Vice chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, also Chairman of the Western Balkan Parliamentary Group, Johann David Wadephul, said that Albania has not fulfilled any of the conditions set at the Council of Ministers.
Today, Olav Gutting, member of the CDU leadership, expressed his support to Albania’s EU path and appealed German colleagues to be more careful with the declarations they give regarding internal problems of other countries.
“First of all, Albania is our friend and our partner and we will never forget that Albanians are the most pro-EU people in the region, based on all polls. We have always supported the perspective of Albania for Eu accession. Secondly, we must be more sensible with the messages that are sent by Germany to Albania. The internal disagreements are very concerning, but we must be very careful with the advice we give to Albania, such as about the election date”, he said.
Full declaration:
Albania: Economic Cooperation, European Commission Progress Report and June 30th Local Elections
First of all Albania is our friend and our partner and we will never forget that Albanians are the most pro EU people in the region, based on all surveys of the Europian Union. We have always supported Albania’s perspective to EU accession. With the help of KfW, but not only, we have invested considerable amounts in the country, which made amazing progress from dictatorship to Nato member and EU candidate country.
Second, we should be sensitive sending messages from Germany to Albania.
The inner disputes are worrying, but we should be cautious giving advises to Albania, for example concerning the date of elections.
We can only say that leaving parliament and throwing molotovs is no option. This is even wrong and does not match our values. Political disputes should be solves through dialogue and parliamentary debates, not through street fights.
Third, we have to salute Albania’s progress based on the EU Commission report and deal very responsibly with the positive recomandation of the Commission to open accession talks with Albania. There is a tangible progress.
I agree that we have to look on the process in our own point of view and analyse it later. But this should happen in a dialog.
I want to congratulate all Albanian people and authorities for their great efforts and achievements. They have still a long way to go and serious problems to solve. At this stage Albania deserves our respect and full support.
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