After 11 months of paralysing political stalemate in Albania, one of the European Union’s aspiring Balkan candidates, European leaders lost patience and stepped in to try and break the deadlock last week. The move persuaded the opposition Socialist Party to end its parliamentary boycott, in force since the country’s elections in June 2009, but failed to find a long-term solution to the conflict.
The Socialists, led by Tirana mayor Edi Rama, began the boycott in a bid to force a recount of what it says were fraudulent votes. But Prime Minister Sali Berisha, whose Democratic Party narrowly won the elections, refused to reopen the ballot boxes. The stalemate brought parliamentary proceedings to a standstill and generated a bitter exchange of insults between the two leaders. At the beginning of May, 22 Socialist MPs and 180 supporters went on hunger strike in the capital.
Albania applied for EU membership last year and the European Commission is currently drawing up its assessment of progress towards integration, based on the country’s responses to 2,280 questions. As a growing number of hunger strikers were admitted to hospital, the leaders of the European Parliament’s two largest political groups summoned Mr Berisha and Mr Rama to Strasbourg in a bid to broker a compromise. Despite the failure of the two sides to agree, the Socialists called off their hunger strike and returned to the parliament chamber on Monday. MEPs have threatened to freeze Albania’s accession process if no solution is found.
A joint statement by the EU’s High Representative Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle reflects the alarm in Brussels about Albania’s young and volatile democracy. It said: “Albania stands at a crucial moment on its path towards EU integration. A range of domestic challenges require political courage. The EU is seriously concerned about the dysfunctional parliament and the possible systemic effects across the institutions. It is high time to find a solution to the current crisis.” Talks are continuing in Tirana, mediated by Brussels diplomats.
