“EU Observer”, Albania deserves status

“This week, EU leaders will decide whether to grant the country candidate status following the European Commission’s positive recommendation in October. Why, then, is it widely predicted that Albania will get the EU cold shoulder again?”, Euobserver says.

“The brief euphoria that Albanians enjoyed, coinciding with a century of nationhood, quickly subsided into resignation. But last summer’s elections, finally meeting international standards and putting Edi Rama’s socialist party in power, generated a real sense that something had changed; a sense of hope. The commission’s 2013 Progress report found that Albania had made good progress on key reforms. Yet candidate status would not mean membership tomorrow, with many years of arduous negotiations to come. Current reports put a number of countries in the frame for blocking Albania’s progress, among them the UK and the Netherlands. It may come down to the wire, in the end”, the article continues.

“One possibility is that the European Council might postpone the decision yet again, until June 2014, with further conditions attached. But by then – who knows – the European election results may make leaders even more fearful of challenging a Eurosceptic current. There is something else Albanians are justly proud of: a unique but little-known model of religious tolerance. Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Catholics live side by side in genuine harmony: socialising, intermarrying and celebrating each other’s religious festivals. Perhaps Europe could learn something”, the article continues.

“But will the EU be willing to listen to the voice of Albanians? The fact is, the country has suffered for decades from an unfair and undeserved public image problem. Of course, it still has issues to tackle, but some Europeans labour under the false apprehension that Albania is riddled with crime, people trafficking and poverty. As any publicist will confirm, perceptions are more powerful than the truth. But what most people in the EU fail to understand is how ‘European’ Albania already is, and how closely its history has been linked to neighbouring member states”, the article says.

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