Fule Urges Albanians to Unite Over EU

“Albania’s future is in the EU… but the political parties need to work together and efficiently,” Stefan Fule said in a joint press conference with Albania's centre-left Prime Minister, Edi Rama, on Thursday.

“The culture of confrontation does not help Albania’s EU integration process,” he added, referring to the country's history of fierce political disputes.

The press conference was held on the heels of a high-level meeting between Albania and the EU in Tirana, where the country's "roadmap" and progress on key reforms were discussed.

 “The fight against corruption and organized crime as well as judicial reform remain of utmost importance, but also public administration reform, the human rights of Roma and discrimination against the LGBT community,” Fule noted

Prime Minister Rama said that political and institutional cooperation and the wider engagement of civil society on EU integration would remain the focus of his government.

“I want to assure our partners that although [we are] not happy that Albania was not granted candidate status last December, this has not had a negative effect,” Rama said.

“It has strengthened our resolve to build on the impressive progress already made by our government to fulfill the remaining priorities,” he added.

Despite an unconditional recommendation by the European Commission, the EU Council of Ministers in December postponed a decision on granting Albania EU candidate status, seeking a longer track record in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

EU ministers said that they would seek a new report from the European Commission this June covering implementation of anti-corruption and judicial reforms before deciding on Albania’s...