Steinmeier supports Albania’s EU ambitions

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier encouraged Albania to carry out further reforms for its planned admission to the EU and promised German help for this. He knows that Albania’s path to the European Union will remain challenging, he said in a speech in front of the parliament in Tirana. “Keep working on fighting grievances where they still exist, keep working on curbing corruption and organized crime, continue judicial reform.”

Albania can continue to rely on Germany’s support, emphasized the Federal President, who assured the MPs: “Europe is looking forward to Albania.” The country is already a “steadfast, reliable partner”. It proves this as a member of NATO and OSCE and currently as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. The Western Balkans also clearly sided with Ukraine after the Russian attack. It has “proven itself internationally as a mature democracy”.

Long waiting times

The visit, which lasts until this Friday, is the second stop after North Macedonia on Steinmeier’s Western Balkans trip. All six states – including Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro – have been waiting for almost two decades to join the EU. They fear that Ukraine and Moldova, which were quickly granted candidate status by the EU after Russia’s war of aggression began, could overtake them. Accession negotiations for Albania and North Macedonia officially began last July.

Steinmeier arrived in the capital Tirana in the morning and first met President Bajram Begaj. He then called Germany an “irreplaceable partner who has supported us at all levels”. In his six-minute statement, Begaj went overboard with expressions of gratitude. Steinmeier was not stingy with compliments either: “Albania is an important friend and partner of the European Union and especially of Germany.”

Praise for fighting corruption

The Federal President paid tribute to the country’s efforts to date – for example in the reform of the judiciary and in the fight against corruption and organized crime. At the same time, he emphasized: “Sustainable progress in these areas is crucial for the EU accession process, because the EU sees itself as a legal community and the rule of law is the basis for a functioning democracy.”

How difficult this is in practice was shown when investigating judges and public prosecutors in Albania for suspected corruption: 300 out of 500 failed or resigned voluntarily. There are also corruption cases. From the German point of view, all of this is evidence that Albania is serious about reforms, but that further efforts are needed.

In any case, the states of the Western Balkans cannot complain about a lack of attention at the moment. After the Federal President, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected in Tirana on Tuesday when the EU is holding a Western Balkans summit here. There, too, it will probably be about what has been achieved and what is still necessary in the reform process of the six states.

kle/qu (dpa)