WRITTEN QUESTION E-3348/00

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council

(25 October 2000)

Subject: Strengthening democratic institutions and promoting respect for ethnic minorities in Albania

During the recent local elections in Albania, there were reports of many instances of psychological duress being brought to bear in the southern part of the country where the country's Greek minority are in the majority. In the Chimara region, a great many irregularities, including ballot-rigging, affecting the candidates of the human rights party Omonia (KEAD), which represents the Greek minority, were recorded by foreign observers and reported by members of the Greek community.

What measures will the Council take to consolidate the democratic institutions, establish the rule of law, and promote respect for minorities in Albania, which are preconditions for that country's participation in European institutions?

Reply

(8 March 2001)

1. The Council has noted the comments made in the Preliminary Statement published on 16 October 2000 by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR of 11 December 2000 and the report of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of 10 November 2000 concerning the conduct of the local elections in Albania.

2. In the statement it made on the local elections in Albania in the OSCE's Permanent Council and in the Council of Europe, the Union deplored the serious irregularities and incidents noted in the first and second rounds of balloting, especially those which affected the voting of a substantial number of Greeks in Chimara.

3. As Albania is a country eligible for a stabilisation and association agreement, its performance in respecting democratic principles, human rights and the rights of minorities is an important criterion for future developments in its relations with the European Union.

On the basis of a Commission feasibility study on the possibility of negotiating a stabilisation and association agreement, the Council concluded on 24 January 2000 that Albania needed first to resolve certain economic, political and institutional weaknesses. Since adaptation to the structures of the Union is a strategic goal for the government in Tirana, the Union has considerable leverage to help improve the situation of minorities in Albania. The Albanian authorities are certainly aware of this.

4. Moreover, in the Final Declaration of the Zagreb Summit, which brought together the EU and the Western Balkan countries on 24 November, Albania undertook to respect the rights of persons belonging to minority groups. In Zagreb the Union announced its decision to step up cooperation with Albania and to specify what reforms needed to be carried out. The Council has set up an EU-Albania high-level steering group which will assess progress, recommend the necessary reform measures and provide advice and guidance in all areas of concern set out in the 1999 Commission feasibility report, namely macro-economic stabilisation and accelerated structural reforms, strengthening of security and public order and improvement of governance and law enforcement (such as public administration reform, judiciary, rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities). The group may look at any other issue relevant to the stabilisation and association process. The Council will thus be able to monitor closely the Albanian government's implementation of concrete measures in these areas.

5. The European Community spent 18,8 million between 1993 and 1999 on financing democratisation and human rights projects in Albania or in a regional framework encompassing Albania.

6. However, in a Presidency declaration on behalf of the European Union of 1 December 2000, it was pointed out that the European Union sees the increasing use of violence in the pursuit of political aims as a worrying development. The European Union therefore made a forceful appeal for the rule of law to be respected and made any movement by Albania towards a closer relationship with the European Union dependent on respect for institutions and legality, non-recourse to violence and a spirit of tolerance and dialogue.