Integration, Albania listed second lowest

21/05/2012 00:00

During the meeting “The EU integration and democratization as two coins
of the same side”, the EU Institute of Policies and Initiative, with its
headquarters in Sofia, presented a study that is based on the EU index.
This index measures the economic and politic performance in 35 member
countries, including the candidate countries.

Albania is ranked second lowest in the 35 country list, evaluated with 27 points for the economy, 22 points for the life quality, while the Albanian democracy has gathered 15 points. The government performance is valued with 20 points.

Compared to the other countries of the region, for not fulfilling the EU criteria, Albania has been ranked second last by leaving only Bosnia behind, while Macedonia and Serbia has climbed two spots in the list.

The EU ambassador in Tirana, Ettore Sequi, declared that the fulfillment of the political criteria has a special importance, which means that there are more funds from the EU, if Albania will receive the EU candidate status.

“In average, Albania has profited 94 million EUR annually, but with the EU candidate status this fund will be four times more”.

Mentioning the political situation in the country, Sequi underlined the need of a consensual president. The chairman of the Parliamentary Integration Commission, Ditmir Bushati, declared that the fulfillment of the 12 priorities will serve as democratic credentials for the Albanians in the region, giving another dimension to the integration, in a situation when the enlargement issue is not a priority in Europe.

“I believe that the status is a political evaluation, which is directly connected with the political credibility of the country, with its political image, not only in relation with the EU, but also with the neighbors and our participation in other international organisms that are important. The status means a much clearer European perspective, since it would turn our country’s eyes to the negotiations and for reaching higher standards. The EU political capacity in the eyes of the European citizens is considered as falling, as a big gap between the desire of the European citizens and the possibilities of the governments for realizing their desires”, Bushati declared.

The interior Minister, Bujar Nishani, underlined the significance of the regional cooperation.

“The regional cooperation is extremely important, because the organization has had encouragement, the realization of this regional cooperation of Albania with the other regional countries, the neighboring countries or not, by having in this cooperation process the obligation to apply the EU standards. I think that we have reached an extraordinary achievement”, Nishani declared.

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