Hannes Swoboda, the leader of the centre-left Socialists & Democrats
group in the European Parliament, explained the hesitation of the other
member countries and declared for Top Channel that Albania might
receive a status that will be conditioned with the elections of 2013,
which will be a strong condition also for the membership negotiations.
TCH: Have you heard about the possibility of getting the candidate status and what are the main concerns that remain for Albania?
Swoboda: “You know that all the elections in Albania are a big concern for the European Union. I would hope that Albania could get the candidate status, maybe conditional that the elections will go well, in the sense of free and fair elections. But I think that we should have one important step forward, because Albania, with the recent developments, deserves to have that candidate status. It’s still a long way to go, but at least we should give that that we should give impetus and that signal.
TCH: But only after proving free and fair elections? That means that 2013 are the next elections.
Swoboda: “Yes, but if you get already a status conditional, it would be a good step forward. I believe of course that Albania deserves the candidate status just now, as it is, but I know that there are some hesitations here and there. One possibility is that the member states will vote now the Commission’s proposition for the candidate status of Albania, but saying that they will wait finally for a clear advice by the Commission after the next elections. If the next elections will go well, the decision will be validated. If the elections will be not fair and not free, the decision would be null and void.
The second possibility would be that we would say “yes, the status us here,” but the beginning of the negotiations will be only after we have seen that the elections will go free and fair. There are a variety of possibilities, but in any way, I hope for a clear positive signal for Albania at the next council meeting.
Anyway, if it is only for the status and the opening of the negotiations, the elections next year are very important.
Interviewed by: Arta Tozaj
Top Channel
