Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has reiterated his criticism against the European Union for not advancing enlargement in the Western Balkans.
In an interview for the Financial Times published on Thursday, Rama remarked that the European Union has lost the awareness of its own identity and wished for it to recover soon.
“Brussels is suffering from some amnesia about who they are, what’s the purpose of their existence,” he told FT’s Valerie Hopkins, adding that “They are the biggest force for good humankind has created, and I hope they will recover fast because without them the world is a much worse place.”
Rama maintained in his interview that the last elections and his victory for a third term in power show that Albania is embracing stability after decades of turbulence since the fall of communism.
“Albania is a teenage democracy, and like every teenager it has problems but it is growing up and will reach maturity in not a long time,” he said.
The FT article claimed that despite political polarization, opposition accusations of vote-buying, and OSCE-ODIHR’s report of the government use of state resources, elections were “smoother” in Albania this time.
It mentioned neither the allegations that the ruling Socialist Party stole the personal data of 910,000 people and used it for electoral purposes, nor prosecution attempts to seize the equipment of the media that published such accusations.
The killing of a Socialist Party supporter in Elbasan was linked in the article to President Ilir Meta’s accusations against Prime Minister Edi Rama.
“A Socialist party supporter was killed during unrest in the city of Elbasan. It was ignited after President Ilir Meta, founder of Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI), accused Rama of running a ‘kleptocratic regime’ that ‘grabbed all the powers and the sovereignty of Albania’s people and . . . eliminated all accountability.’”
No argument was provided for this claim, which is in line with the Socialist Party accusations in their attempt to dismiss the president.
Rama explained the repeated opposition losses against him with their alleged refusal to engage in institutions.
Speaking of ideas to redraw borders along ethnic lines in the Balkans, Rama again blamed the European Union.
“It shows a weakness within, a lack of cohesive vision about enlargement, and lack of steady process to implement it,” he said.
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