Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-06-Speech-3-044"
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"en.20060906.5.3-044"2
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".
Madam President, Commissioner, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, Mr Ilves, your report, Mr Ilves, shows a very great deal of empathy with, and understanding of, the young democracy of Albania, but also the rigorous approach that is required when considering it; it is a very good report, and I am grateful to you for it.
The ongoing dispute between the government and a private television station can, I believe, be properly resolved only by full compliance with the law.
I would like, by way of conclusion, to remind the House that we have for a long time been arguing the case for easier visa arrangements for Albania and for the other countries of South-Eastern Europe, and so we very much welcome the return agreements reached by Albania and the EU. Albania is among the few countries that have done this, and one of the things we are calling for by means of our resolution is prompt action on the part of European governments to make it easier for students, academics and businessmen to get visas, with, of course, a more relaxed visa regime for all citizens following on as soon as possible. Criminals either acquire visas by dubious means or have no need of them, being, as they are, familiar with other ways of getting across borders, but the success of efforts in Albania to combat crime may perhaps make it possible for European governments to at last work miracles where the allocation of visas is concerned.
Many of you will be aware that I have, for fourteen years, been observing Albania as it has emerged from a long period of dictatorship and moved closer to the European Community.
It is for that reason that I am particularly pleased that we are able, today, to vote to approve this stabilisation and association agreement, something I welcome as an important step towards a relationship of trust between Albania and the EU, which will help Albania and its politicians to give the country the political, economic and institutional stability that it needs. It will be very difficult to make progress down this road; to do so, it will be necessary to achieve the standards required, as laid down in the agreement, and for this Parliament, and our committee on relations with it in particular, to monitor this progress continuously and with the utmost precision. We too, as good friends, will do as we have done for many years and highlight any deficiencies, including those yet to be discovered.
Although I think it much to be welcomed that war has been declared on corruption in Albania, I do also think that all the political forces must treat this campaign with the same seriousness, for it will not meet with real and lasting success unless they do. Over recent months, a number of criminal gangs have been unmasked and arrested; this is a very good result and an incentive to further action of the same kind aimed at taking passport-forgers, drug-dealers and the like out of circulation and bringing them to justice.
The government is doing a splendid job in the educational field and thereby giving the many young Albanians a bit more of a future; I very much hope that it will do everything necessary to enable them to participate in the European Union’s new educational programmes after 2007. It is also a good thing that the government is making the effort to attract the investment that the country needs, although that will of course be conditional on the reforms in administration and the justice system that are so urgently needed.
Our resolution also highlights the need for the practice of the bloodfeud, still prevalent in many parts of Albania, to be stamped out; our call for this is founded on our European values, which, we hope, will soon guide the thoughts and actions of all Albanians.
I have no wish to conceal the fact that I found much of what happened over the summer months highly disagreeable, but, without going into unpleasant details, I would like to stress that what is urgently needed is political dialogue, and that political maturity is demonstrated by democratic behaviour and nothing else.
The political forces on all sides should also, and once and for all, stop constantly crying out for an international mediator to sort their problems out. Albanian politicians are elected to resolve problems in a democratic manner and to perform in a constructive manner the role allotted to them, whether it involves exercising governmental responsibility or serving in the opposition. Recent years have shown the futility of boycotts, and they would not be worth the effort now either; the Albanian people have had enough of that sort of stunt, and what they want is serious politicians with a serious interest in sorting problems out.
It is for this reason that it is so heartening that the political forces have come to an agreement on the tiresome subject of electoral rolls. The European Union has for years been paying a great deal of money to get these lists at last drawn up properly, and it is still proving extremely difficult. Local elections are due to be held shortly, and if the results are to be acceptable, they must be based on largely secure data."@en1
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