Socialist Party Secretary-General Taulant Balla has spoken on the scepticism of countries like the Netherlands in terms of Albania’s fulfilment of conditions prior to EU accession talks officially starting.
After a meeting with the Socialist Party today, Balla said that a country’s scepticism doesn’t necessarily translate to how things will go at the time of the decision whether to open talks. He also suggested that these concerns could be linked to upcoming elections in those countries rather than the performance of Albania.
“When we enter the topic of enlargement, I would say that in March there are elections in the Netherlands, in May the regional elections in France, in September in Germany. I hope that the EU Member States will not link their election campaign to the aspirations of countries that have met conditions,” he said.
Balla added that the only institution with the power to correctly assess whether or not Albania is ready for the First Intergovernmental Conference is the European Commission.
“The assessment will be given by the European Commission which is the only correct assessment. The European Commission has stated that Albania has met the conditions for holding the first intergovernmental conference. Albania has done its part of the tasks, the part related to the views of member countries cannot be predicted,” he stated.
“The German presidency, which ends on December 31, has its own objectives for the Intergovernmental Conferences,” Balla added.
The Dutch government recently reported that the remaining two conditions should be fulfilled. These are in relation to the media law being in line with the Venice Commission and the establishment and functioning of the Constitutional Court.
