Justice reform will be key to decision-making for opening negotiations, said Christian Lange, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, at a press conference on Wednesday in Tirana.
While the re-evaluation of the priority list of judges and prosecutors is expected to continue with the establishment of new justice institutions, the German senior official said 'the progress in justice reform, accelerating reforms is one of the important steps that will have an impact on the decision-making'.
Regarding Germany's decision to open negotiations for Albania, Lange said that the decision will be taken on time. "The issue of developments in the field of justice will play an important role. The justice system is key to economic development. A functional rule of law is the basis for the functioning of economy and business," he said.
Lange also referred to the recent statements of deputy chairman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag Johann David Wadephul that Albania has not met any conditions for opening negotiations. "I have heard the statement of colleague Wadephul and I can tell you that Germany has no tradition to take a stand on [other countries'] internal policy issues, so that surprised me," he said.
Asked by journalists whether the 'Tahiri' case is an obstacle to opening accession talks, the German official reiterated that it is not common practice for Germany to hold positions on the domestic policies of other countries.
State Secretary at the German Justice Ministry Present, Christian Lange attended the EURALIUS V presentation, where he underlined that Albania is very close to opening up integration negotiations, but for this he demanded uncompromising battle for corruption in the justice system.