Johann David Wadephul, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU German parliamentary group, spoke in an interview with Albanian news outlet Opinion regarding the opening of EU accession negotiations.
In the interview, it was implied that there may be a decision in June to conditionally open accession negotiations. Practically, this would mean that there will be no negotiations until all the conditions set by the EU Member States are fulfilled.
According to the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Albania has yet to fulfill a single condition for opening negotiations. In the interview, Wadephul addressed nearly every condition.
Wadephul confirmed the Bundestag stance that negotiations will be opened only if all conditions are fulfilled, a position that has been included in the coalition agreement between CDU/CSU and the German Social Democratic Party.
He stressed the necessity of tangible Justice Reform results, especially with regards to the vetting process and the unblocking of important judicial institutions, including the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK):
At the very least, the reassessment of judges and prosecutors from high judicial institutions and appeals courts must be completed. Judges and prosecutors who have been proved to have committed criminal offenses must be prosecuted.
The Constitutional Court, the High Court, and the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK) must begin work.
He admitted that, while cannabis cultivation has decreased, trafficking of various kinds of drugs is on the increase, and stressed that the fight against drugs must be constant:
There is a drastic decrease in cannabis cultivation, however the trafficking of hard drugs has increased. The fight against drugs must be firm and constant.
For the first time, he highlighted the problem of the public administration’s weak state:
High officials in Ministries and the public administration have been hired automatically, with no competition, in contradiction with the law for civil service. This is a violation of the law and it must be corrected.
He stressed the importance of electoral reform and condemned its delay:
From 2013, the OSCE and the EU have called for an electoral reform, but nothing has happened since – this is a poignant disregard of both OSCE and the EU. The Albanian Parliament needs to pass the electoral reform by the end of 2018. This condition is vital for us, so we can vote for the opening of negotiations.
He noted that the fight against crime and corruption is paid a lot of lip service, but no tangible results have been achieved:
Many decisions have been taken in order to fight against corruption and organized crime. However, in reality, very little has been achieved: corruption remains a problem throughout the judiciary system.
He raised concerns regarding the impunity that surrounds many high government officials:
Existing laws and procedures meant to fight corruption and organized crime have been very weakly enforced when it came to high officials and politicians, as compared to middle and low officials, or regular citizens. Thus, the “little fish” were apprehended and convicted, yet the “big fish” managed to escape the net. Here, we are looking at the deliberate disregard of a fundamental rule of law principle, that is, the equal treatment of all citizens before the law.
He labelled former Minister of Interior Affairs Saimir Tahiri, accused of being involved in international drug trafficking, as a “big fish” and an obstacle to opening negotiations:
The Tahiri case is a “big fish” case. In this case, we are looking at a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of a legal state. This case is a real obstacle in the opening of negotiations. If the American ambassador Donald Lu is bringing forth such serious accusations, then we must take this very seriously, as Lu has never shown himself to be particularly close to the opposition.
He declared that Minister of Interior Affairs Fatmir Xhafaj, whose brother has been convicted of drug trafficking in Italy, cannot retain his position, as his conflict of interest is obvious. His refusal to resign is another obstacle to opening negotiations:
To my knowledge, according to the known facts and legislation, in this case, the Minister of Interior Affairs has a conflict of interest.
To maintain his credibility in the eyes of the Albanian people, and the international partners, the Minister of Interior Affairs should be interested in a complete illumination of this case. This, however, cannot be made possible if he, as someone involved in the case, remains Minister. Thus, we still have considerable doubts regarding the political will to uphold the EU’s legal standards.
