WRITTEN QUESTION E-1135/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 April 2002)

Subject: Commissioner Patten's views on Albania

In his answer of 26 March 2002 to my question No. E-0331/02(1), Commissioner Patten reiterates his original view that there are no grounds to suppose that the Greek minority in Albania is persecuted and that Albania shows a willingness to cooperate on matters relating to minorities. He also reported the incredible fact that there are only two Greek-language secondary schools in the country (he literally claims to be in the fortunate position of being able to provide such information) when the Greek ethnic minority numbers 400 000 and has suffered relentless persecution at the hands of all Albanian regimes for decades.

Nevertheless, the situation in Albania would not appear to be as idyllic as Mr Patten portrays it. On 4 April 2002, the Commission published the Annual report on The Stabilisation and Association Process for South East Europe (Agence Europe bulletin of 5 April 2002, page 10) in which it announces that the situation in Albania is far from satisfactory. Specifically, it reports that Albania is still beset by a confrontational political culture, where individual interests prevail over general ones, elections are not yet up to international standards, implementation of the legal framework is poor, the administration is weak and corrupt and corruption and organised crime is widespread. It is to such a country that the Commission has given a total of 1 billion euro since 1991, according to Mr Patten's written answer, with the use of which he declares himself to be satisfied.

Is the Commissioner aware of the content of the report drawn up by his officials? What are his comments on the report's polished portrayal of Albania? To which regions in Albania were the 1 billion euro given and on which specific projects were they spent? What proportion of that amount was for the southern part of the country, where thousands of the members of the Greek ethnic minority live, and exactly which projects were carried out there? Does the Commissioner consider that the existence of two Greek secondary schools in a country with a Greek minority of hundreds of thousands is satisfactory? How is it possible to put an end to the violence and rigging that marks every election in Albania (which Commission officials have also confirmed)? Will respect for human rights in countries such as Albania finally be linked with funding by the EU? On what grounds was a total of EUR 1 billion given to Albania when so many serious violations of human rights were taking place in that country?

(1) OJ C 52 E, 6.3.2003, p. 4.

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(4 June 2002)

The Commission would like to clarify that, in its answer to the Honourable Member's written question E-0331/02, it clearly indicated that, according to available data, there are around 30 elementary schools, 40 secondary schools and two high schools teaching in Greek in Albania. As regards the size of the Greek minority in Albania, the Commission would like to point out that there is a substantial difference between the figures indicated by the Honourable Member and the official statistics, which refer to an amount of around 50 000.

The Commission has never portrayed an idyllic situation in Albania. On the contrary, under the direction of the Member of the Commission responsible for External Relations, it has clearly indicated, inter alia, through its Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) report of April 2002 the considerable challenges that the country needs to address in terms of political culture, elections, implementation of the legal framework, fight against corruption and organised crime, etc. The Commission, together with other international partners and individual Member States continues vigorously to encourage Albania to make solid progress in these fields as a crucial element for meaningful rapprochement to the Union.

As far as human rights and protection of minorities are concerned, the above SAP report is balanced and fair and in line with previous Commission's statements.

Since the beginning of the reform process, the Community, the Member States, major international financial institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Bank for Reconstitution and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB) ) and other countries have been supporting Albania to address the very fundamental and difficult problems it had to face. Over that period, project implementation was temporarily suspended whenever the social and political situation so justified. Today, the Commission does not consider that the human rights situation in Albania would justify any halt to the assistance provided to that country.

Community financed projects have generally targeted the country as a whole (assistance to Kosovo refugees in the North being an exception to this). Support has covered a large number of areas, including humanitarian assistance, macro-financial assistance, infrastructures, agriculture, health, education, public administration reform, judiciary and law enforcement bodies, democracy and human rights and cross-border co-operation. It is important to recall that all the Community projects are submitted to the scrutiny of Member States, and only after their approval the programme is put forward for funding.

A number of projects have been implemented in the South of the country. Some relevant examples are: water supply infrastructure at Gjirokaster, waste water and sanitation of Saranda, Kakavija border crossing point and access road from Gjirokaster, the Tri Urat border crossing and its access road (due for completion in August), the Korca-Kapsthice road and the border crossing at Kapsthice (due for completion in June 2002), as well as the Konispoli border-crossing, in co-operation with the Government of Greece. Furthermore, the Commission is co-operating with the Government of Greece at the Konispoli border crossing.

The Commission has also financed projects whose aim is to promote the involvement of different ethnic groups in the local decision-making process and the improvement of inter-ethnic relations (project completed in the Saranda region, and on-going project for the establishment of a observatory for inter-ethnic relations in the South of Albania).