TIRANA, Oct 7 /ATA/ – No perspective for the Western Balkans, while the European Union is holding itself hostage here,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview with Ingrid Steiner-Gashi of Austrian daily newspaper ”Kurier”.
Albania’s Prime Minister is disappointed about the accession hopes, the ever-changing rules and a European house in chaos.
The Albanian PM Edi Rama has recently likened the Western Balkans effort to join the EU with the absurd play Waiting for Godot.
Waiting for something that apparently never comes – this feeling of deep disappointment has spread across the region.
New impetus for the candidate states Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina also failed to come from the EU summit of heads of state and government in Slovenia.
Rama describes this gloomy outcome too: “Nothing will change in the near future either.”
”Kurier”: Do you feel Albania is disappointed? The country has delivered on the reforms required by Brussels, yet the EU hasn’t responded to Albania regarding the accession talks.
Edi Rama: I’m not disappointed, but I’ve learned. Now I have a different idea about the rules of the game in the EU and we have just to accept them. One must not lose patience and passion. It is more about Albania functioning like an EU state than about actually having Albania as a member of the European Union.
”Kurier”: Which are the game rules?
Edi Rama: It is always about internal politics in one or another EU member state. What is true today does not necessarily have to be implemented tomorrow. Like the weather forecast, we have meanwhile developed a technique that helps us decipher the election calendar in the EU. Depending on the profile of a country, one can expect a certain slowdown in the EU enlargement process after elections.
”Kurier”: So, before the April elections in France, there will be no progress with EU enlargement process?
Edi Rama: The problem today is not France, on the contrary. Bulgaria is now blocking the process.
”Kurier”: Do you feel like some kind of hostage to national politics in EU countries?
Edi Rama: I don’t feel hostage to any matter. The EU is holding itself hostage here. The EU states do not explicitly act this way towards us, they act this way towards themselves too.
”Kurier”: The EU and the Western Balkans. How would you relieve frustration with money? Would Albania become an EU member within next ten years?
Edi Rama: This is unpredictable. What I told other heads of government was: Albania was the last country in Europe to give up communism. Albania will be the last country in Europe to give up the European ideal, even if the others have long since done so. We made that choice, and for the first time in our history we had a free choice. We want to be a member of the European Union. First for our people, and we want to be part of this family.
”Kurier”: EU accession: A road leading to nowhere for the Balkans. Would some kind of partial solution also be imaginable for Albania? So, not being a full EU member, but to become part of the European Economic Area, like it is the case with Norway or Switzerland?
Edi Rama: No, it is non-negotiable. Albania should become a fully functioning EU member state. We are Europeans and nobody else has to confirm that. We are surrounded by EU borders – and the decision- making rests with the EU. The Bloc has the right to say how it wants its house be managed. If your house is in a mess, we can’t complain that your relationship with us is so messy. Because the chaos was there earlier.
”Kurier”: Many states are sceptical of EU enlargement. How would you respond to them?
Edi Rama: You are not sceptical about EU enlargement, but you worry about your own choices. In some cases, you have given in very strongly to extreme rights.
/ a.jor. /u.sh/
