The Council of Albanian Ambassadors, a forum of well-known diplomats and intellectuals, reacted today on the decision of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, seeking seriousness from all political classes, and especially the Government. The Council of Ambassadors stresses that the public needs to be properly informed, since June 2019, as a station scheduled by EC, does not mean automatic opening of negotiations.
Full Statement of the Albanian Ambassadors Council:
At the meeting of EU foreign ministers held in Luxemburg on June 26, an intermediate path was found to respond to the European Commission's proposal to open negotiations with Albania on joining the Union. The document drafted on this occasion to submit to the European Council, which meets on June 28-29, states: "The Council agrees to respond positively to the progress made by Albania and to determine the path towards the opening of accession negotiations in June 2019".
This is without doubt good news for all Albanians who see their country a step closer to opening negotiations for EU integration. But no automatic opening of negotiations has been set in June next year. The Council of Albanian Ambassadors calls on our entire political class, and especially the government, to seriously read the document of the foreign ministers of the EU member states and inform them in public opinion. Good news is that next year there will be no more need for a new recommendation from the European Commission. And this is a step forward in this small process, but it has its importance to consider. The final decision remains to be taken by the European Council.
It is true that there were no new conditions to be met by Albania during the 12 months ahead. But there was a re-enactment, with a new force, of the conditions set out in recent years. In our judgment, this makes the issue even sharper because it shows that EU member states have come to the conclusion that Albania has not fulfilled its previous tasks. Clearly, without the fulfillment of these tasks there is no opening of negotiations. The content of these tasks is a matter of internal developments rather than diplomacy. The Council of Albanian Ambassadors calls on our entire political class and in particular the government to give up the empty polemical rhetoric to focus specifically on the required reforms and the fight against corruption and organized crime. It will also lose the next year the chance that the decision to open negotiations would be a very serious blow to our European aspiration. As the President of the Republic rightly recalled, "one year passes very quickly". There is no time to lose.