Page 25 - bne_newspaper_April_13_2018

Opinion
April 13, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
This is particularly true in Germany, where national politics are dominated by cross-party consensus, and where the Federal Government will be influential in the organisation of a further Western Balkan summit under the Berlin process on July 10 in London.
Johannes Singhammer of the Christian Social Un- ion (CSU) in Bavaria knows Albania well. For many years Bavaria and the CSU have been engaged with Albania ever since it was first designated as
a potential EU candidate in 2000. "We must not disappoint the people of Albania,” he says, “a new generation has grown up with the hope of a future as an EU citizen. Reforms have been started and advanced.”
“Good politics are characterised by recognising the right moment for decisions, and any further delay to Albania’s aspirations for a transatlantic future without a clear perspective for ultimate ac- cession to the EU would be a lost opportunity and a historical mistake.”
“Albania is a secular country, and one where different religious communities live harmoniously side by side,” he went on to say. “The country
has been a full NATO member since 2009 and
is already an established part of the Western community of values. Albania is actively taking part in security operations in line with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, and currently have a presence in in Mali and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Mogherini has already hinted at the EC’s future recommendation for Albania by saying that: “The integration process of Albania into the European Union, and the integration process of the entire Western Balkans into the European Union are matters of self-interest for the European Union.” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama also talks of mutual self-interest with benefits for both parties. He has called for support for the opening of EU accession talks in order to inject some dynamism to the whole process, and help Albania build a better future for its people.
He stresses that the opening of talks would de- liver a motivation that would keep everybody in Albania working together towards the country’s strategic vision for an EU future, and he talks of the accession negotiations as having a transfor- mational effect for Albania and its citizens; “It’s important to recognise that Albania is serious in its European vision and conviction,” he says.