The Council of Ministers of the European Union is expected to decide
today about their enlargement package, based on the recommendations of
this October, which includes the candidate status for Albania.
Before the meeting, the Ministers valued the recent positive developments, but to reward this they must first find the consensus of some member countries, which want more time for Tirana to prove the changes.
“We will defend with determination the candidacy of Albania, but there are still some open issues”, declared Alex Stubb, the Finnish Minister for European Matters.
“We haven’t decided anything yet. We will see it with our colleagues. Maybe we might transmit it to the European Summit, or we might conclude it today, after hearing our colleagues”, declared Frans Timmermans, Foreign Minister of Netherlands.
“The position of Denmark is that Albania has made progress, but we need a stable track record of the evidence, before deciding about the candidate status”, declared Nik Hækkerup, Minister for European Matters in Denmark.
“Croatia initiated the letter for the candidate status recommendations for Albania. We believe that Albania deserves it, and this had the support of many member states during yesterday’s meeting at the Council of Ministers. We have to see what happens today. As regards Albania, we have fulfilled the criteria for the candidate status, and we will work with determination in this direction to support this position”, declared Vesna Pusic, Deputy Prime Minister and also Foreign Minister of Croatia.
“I hope that we will have a positive decision for Albania’s candidate status, but I am not sure about this. I know that there are reserves from some countries. The candidate status is not clear what it will say. On the other hand, this doesn’t matter that much. It is true that there might be voices that Albania has still many things to do. I know that it should be based on objective criteria. There is a code for this decision, and on our opinion, Albania has worked better than we expected as regards elections and the new government. I think that this should be rewarded. Albania has still a long way forward”, declared Karl Bildt, Foreign Minister of Sweden.
“Certainly, we support this and by the end of the week, you will see that we will find a solution, declared Jean Asselborn, Foreign Minister of Luxembourg.
“We will exchange opinions and will decide on the conclusions as regards enlargement, including Albania”, declared Linas Linkevicius, Foreign Minister of Lithuania.
The conclusions of the Council are expected to be positive, even if it will be decided to postpone the status for this Spring’s summit.
For Serbia, the 28 European Ministers will decide about opening the negotiations this January.
Prepared by: ARTA TOZAJ
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