Page 56 - Central & Southeast Outlook 2020

Albania is due to hold a regular election in 2021, but the main opposition Democratic Party is pressing for a snap general election as the way out of the political crisis in the country. Opposition MPs handed over signed statements in February 2019 giving up their parliamentary seats and demanding a fresh election. The opposition is accusing the government of links with crime and corruption and being responsible for the poor economic situation. However, Prime Minister Eli Rama’s Socialists won a majority of seats in the last election, and is unlikely to call a snap election.
The country also faces a constitutional crisis over appointments of judges in the Constitutional Court.
2020 will be a year of post-earthquake reconstruction, after the country was hit by a strong quake on November 26, killing 51 people and leaving thousands without homes.
2.2 ​Politics - Bosnia & Herzegovina
After more than a year of political deadlock, the appointment of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s new state-level prime minister should open the way for progress towards EU candidate status and a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020.
Following the October 2018 general election, Bosnian politicians were unable to agree on forming a coalition for 14 months. In December, they finally found a suitable compromise and ethnic Serb politician Zoran Tegeltija was approved as the next state-level prime minister. Tegeltija was proposed by Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the tripartite presidency, and is a member of Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). Many analysts believe he will be under the influence of his party leader, who has repeatedly challenged the authority of the state-level power structures and talked controversially of secession for Bosnia’s Serb entity Republika Srpska.
In his speech to parliament, Tegeltija said he would form a government as soon as possible and would implement much needed reforms to unlock the country’s EU membership path and secure a new deal with the IMF.
However, Tegeltija avoided talking about Bosnia’s Nato membership as this is fiercely opposed by Dodik.
On the other hand, Dodik compromised somewhat to end the deadlock over appointing a prime minister, and agreed that Bosnia would send a plan for reforms to Nato as soon as Tegeltija was appointed.
56​ CESE Outlook 2020​ ​ ​www.intellinews.com