Erler: Integration, concrete actions

This is the declaration of the Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Group of the German Social Democratic Party, who visited Tirana recently.

“In the last visits I have closely seen the Albanian political stalemate. Now that the opposition returned to Parliament, the expectancies are high. The goal of my visit was to offer help for overcoming this stalemate, about which I spoke in the meetings with the Albanian politicians.

It is time for both parties to be more flexible and cooperative. This is the only way for Albania, because it faces important challenges such as the 12 recommendations, now known by everyone. Without progress in this direction, there are no chances for receiving the candidate status, which would approach your country to EU”, Erler declared.

The German MP Erler commented about the failed attempt of the German ambassador for making the Prime Minister Berisha and the opposition leader Edi Rama shaking their hands.

“It is strange, because competition is something known in politics, but a handshake is the most normal thing to do, or even having a beer together. Albania is different and we have to keep this in mind. But I hope that despite the lack of the signals, we will see a cooperation between the parties, and this is important for Albania’s future”, Erler declared.

The European MP sees Albania’s EU integration with skepticism.

“The situation is complicated. The EU doesn’t expect to only approve good laws, but to implement them. The time for approving these laws is very short, also their implementation. It is not reasonable that the parties blame each other for this. We don’t want to see superficial integration declarations from Albania, but concrete work. Albania has the opportunity to make this. Maybe this opportunity is even better with the normal functionality of the Albanian Parliament, but I am a little skeptic about this. By the meetings we have had, I can say that the recuperation of the time that has been lost requires a long way, also for reconstructing trust between parties. I think that this is the conclusion of my visit. My skepticism is based on the timeline of events, where the leaders of both political parties have had a great role. I have heard them blaming each other for this two-year political stalemate, and this is not the way to start a new chapter. I am friend of Albania and will not stop working for achieving a consensus in the Albanian politics, because Albania will not be able to be integrated into EU without this”, the German MP added.
 

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