“Czech pressure, not justified”

Gledis Gjipali, General Director of the European Movement, says that in this phase of integration Albania expects only political evaluation from member countries, about the conditions set by the European Union, conditions that the European Commission certified in the report of June 4th.

“Using economic problems as a condition for the status is something that would have no justifications. The conditions are the ones set by the Council time ago, and the report was positive, favoring the status without any doubt”, declared Gledis Gjipali, from the European Movement of Albania.

Gjergji Vurmo, Program Director at the Institution for Democracy and Intermediation, adds that the “CEZ” issue might turn into an obstacle by the Czech Republic in the further steps of Albania’s integration path, maybe in the negotiations, but not for the status.

“If this issue will not be resolved in the next 10 years, the Czech Republic will have many other occasions for blocking the negotiation process. This is a matter that the Albanian government should take very seriously. We must understand that CEZ is owned by the Czech citizens”, declared Gjergji Vumo.

Gjipali and Vurmo say that the CEZ problem, inherited by the previous government, serves as a reminder to institution leaders that they should be careful, because the criteria for the EU negotiations will be very detailed.

“An EU member country will try to use every possible case to protect its interests and those of their citizens”, Gjergji Vurmo declared.

“It is important to consider all elements and keep in mind that every false step of the Albanian institutions affects the future of the country”, Gledis Gjipali declared.

Albanian Foreign Ministry: No problems so far from the Czech Republic

Cases when the integration path have been blocked by another country for specific interests are not new in the enlargement history of Europe. Greece has been blocking Macedonia for six years, due to the unresolved problem of the country’s name. Croatia’s membership was endangered by Slovenia due to their border issue, and ironically, the accession the Czech Republic itself was in danger by Austria, due to a nuclear power station in their border.

But these cases have taken place in a more advanced phase than the candidate status, in which the aspiring countries are valued only for the criteria that the European Union establishes as conditions.

The Albanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Czech Republic has not made any official communication to them about this issue, but the Czech media outlets have mentioned this even in December, coming with the same warning. However, the Czech Government did not show any similar attitude during the Council of Ministers in December.

Although the Czech government has officially denied these claims, it seems that the Czech media outlets have received this information unofficially by government officials in a delicate moment for the negotiations between the Albanian government and the Czech company, turning it into an economic pressure, to put the Albanian government in disadvantage as regards the CEZ issue.

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