Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-15-Speech-2-643-000"
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"en.20110215.31.2-643-000"2
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"Mr President, the crisis in Albania is nothing new. The crisis did not begin in January with the violence against the demonstrators, nor did it begin in 2009, when the Socialist Party boycotted parliament after the elections and when the hunger strike began.
This crisis is a crisis of political culture. Boycotts, hunger strikes, demonstrations, they are normal methods of doing business in Albanian politics. So are corruption, manipulation of the media and political appointments. All of that is a world away from the kind of politics we would like to see in a country which is on the road to accession.
I so, so hope that the citizens of Albania eventually get a responsible government and a responsible parliament, with politicians who will put the welfare of their citizens above their own prestige and interests. Both sides need to start to move in order to reach that stage. The government has a particular responsibility. Governments have a monopoly on violence and governments have an additional responsibility to stand above party politics, in order to do what is right for the people.
We should be able to expect this government to do everything possible to prevent the January events from happening again. We should also be able to expect it to cooperate fully with the launch of an independent inquiry into what happened in January, to clamp down on corruption within its own ranks, and to provide room for parliamentary debate. The opposition also has a responsibility. It, too, must do everything to prevent a repeat of the January violence, by cooperating fully with proper and fair elections in May and by participating in parliamentary debate, preferably on content, for once, such as the sky-high levels of unemployment in Albania.
How do you get both parties that far, though? I had every hope in November when Commissioner Füle put the ball in Albania’s court and said: no more progress until you resolve this. When that happens, we will be able to grant Albania candidate status. Unfortunately, that did not bring about any change. I am now hoping that Mr Lajčák will succeed where others have failed: that is, in bringing both parties to the table and achieving a breakthrough. I am hopeful, but I am not very confident that this will be possible without us wielding a big stick.
I think that we should hold the prospect of a sanction over them. It must be clear that failure in this negotiation effort will not be without consequences. The sanction must hit the political leaders, however, and not the citizens. That means that we must by no means tamper with Albania’s visa waiver, which is a suggestion I have heard in the corridors. We would really be harming the citizens if we did that. I would really like an assurance from the Commissioner that visa liberalisation will not be abused in this political process.
One idea we could start considering, however, is withdrawing the control of IPA funds from Albania and putting it back in the hands of the EU. That would allow all major investments in the country to go through, but the government would more or less be placed under guardianship. That seems to me to be a sanction that would hit the politicians, but not the people. I sincerely hope that all this will be unnecessary, because both sides will be willing to compromise, and that Mr Lajčák will succeed, in the interests of the Albanian people."@en1
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