Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – The European Parliament Rapporteur on Albania MEP Knut Fleckenstein has arrived today in Tirana where he will talk to the country’s political leaders on justice reform and how to ensure the upcoming general elections are held according to the OSCE/ODIHR standards.
In an interview for Deutsche Welle this morning, Knut Fleckenstein said that he will be in Tirana this week in order to discuss on the recent Report prepared for the European Parliament, the modalities of justice reform which will be crucial for opening accession talks with the EU this autumn and to talk on upcoming general elections.
Fleckenstein added that Albania will have positive chances if it starts with the “implementation of justice reform, in other words the Vetting process, which has been well received by the Albanian government and all parties at Parliament”.
Commenting on the opposition’s protest and the Democratic Party request for free and fair elections, Fleckenstein said that “all those participating in general elections should know that if these elections are not helt correctly, then there will be a problem with opening EU accession talks. It all depends on whether all sides will respect the rules of the game, as we know them in Europe for free and fair elections”.
The European Parliament Rapporteur pointed out that it is very important to ensure democratic elections while starting implementing the reform of the justice system, hinting that Albania could run into problems with the European Union if elections are not held in a correct and non-democratic atmosphere.
MEP Fleckenstein will meet with all political leaders of the Country as well as with opposition and civil society representatives. The visit of the European Parliament representative comes on the third day of the opposition’s protest, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and the establishment of a technical government.
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