Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-06-Speech-3-050"
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"en.20060906.5.3-050"2
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"Madam President, if an observer from Asia, Africa or South America were here following this debate, we would have created a great many questions for him. There has not been one spokesman from any of the wings who has not referred to Albania as a country in which crime is flourishing, in which there are numerous smugglers, in which children are trafficked. At the same time, we hear all the spokesmen saying, yes, Albania must join the European family. I find this a little strange. However, these are the facts and we must examine them.
We need to face the facts, that this is a country with high levels of crime which the government cannot control. The government may have the intention of controlling it, but it is not in a position to do so, because it is beyond its capabilities.
Similarly, trafficking in children cannot be controlled. In 2006 we have trafficking in children, for goodness sake. There is a great deal of drug trafficking and, of course, apart from anything else, and this is a political issue which I believe, with guidance, will be brought under control, there is rampant chauvinism which is not confined solely to Kosovo or Skopje, where we saw disruptions a few years ago, but is directed against Greece. The President of the Hellenic Republic went on an official visit and the Albanian Muslims booed him and there were incidents and a terrible hullabaloo.
We must therefore examine the issue of chauvinism which characterises this country and the issue of the freedom of the press. When a country is deprived of the freedom of the press, it is deprived of basic rights. We must therefore look very carefully before we leap. This country needs education and strict schooling before it accedes to the European Union.
I shall start with what Mr Rehn said: that the Commission and the Council are in accord. They were not always in accord, Commissioner. In October 2002, the Commission said association negotiations should not commence. The Council imposed the decision unilaterally and that is what has brought us to the situation we are in today. I say this in order to restore the truth and set the record straight.
We Greeks are neighbours of the Albanians and, as you know, a neighbour knows more about the person next door than someone who lives elsewhere. What is the story here? The story is that Albania imposed the harshest of dictatorships on itself. When the peoples of eastern Europe were looking upon Stalin as a dictator, Albania thought he was very democratic and followed Mao Tse Tung. This has left a residue in the DNA of the people and, more importantly, the leadership.
Sixteen years have passed, 16 years of democracy and yet the main church in the city of Premeti has still not been restored to Christianity. They are still using it as a house of commerce. Sixteen years later, in a European country, a country, Minister, just 500 kilometres from Austria. A church which was an Orthodox church for centuries has not been restored and they still retain it as a house of commerce. What answer is there to that? Is it not a fact that something is not working properly in this country?
We are talking about a country that last year – not before then, just last year – took two months to return the results of the elections. Can you imagine, Commissioner, Minister, Finland or Austria taking two months to return the results of elections? Elections were held in Albania on 2 July and the results came out on 2 September, meaning that the democratic construct is not working properly, that something is not right in the public administration sector in this country.
There are Greek contractors in Albania who do not recognise the legal government of Mr Berisha today, or Mr Fatos yesterday as the leadership; they recognise the mafia, because if they do not pay taxes to the mafia, they blow up the building site. There are Greek companies which have invested several million euros and, precisely because they could not stand the mafia which imposed its own extortionate taxes, they are abandoning their building sites and machinery and moving out.
One in three cars checked at the borders by the Greek police is carrying hashish. That is the percentage. How can we have such a country which cannot organise its state? I agree that we must all try to help this country find its way, but if we believe that it is mature, then I greatly fear that we shall find ourselves in trouble. The time is not yet right.
We come here, the civilised people of Europe, the representatives of the people of Europe, and decide not to let Serbia into the Union but to let Albania in. We do not let Serbia in because Mrs Ponte was against it; but Mrs Ponte did not want Croatia and, if Austria had not imposed a veto on Turkey last year, Croatia would still be outside the Union.
So Mrs Ponte comes along and dictates which country will accede and which will not accede to the European Union. Is that not the truth? How can we want Albania to accede and to keep out Serbia, which has a better organised state and better rates of development and more culture? Is that not the truth? Now, a short while ago, the Commissioner made a stylish but material admission that this is the reason Serbia is not joining the European Union."@en1
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