[autom.vertaling] Albanese PM vertelt Leden van het Europese Parlement zijn land &quot is; één van safest" in het gebied (en)

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha called on Thursday for EU help in developing his country's infrastructure and for a relaxation of the visa regime for Albanian citizens, while pledging ever more far-reaching political and economic reforms in order to bring his country closer to the EU. He told MEPs his country had already made substantial progress and was now "among the safest and most secular countries in the region".

Mr Berisha was speaking to the Foreign Affairs Committee a day after it held an initial debate on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement which was recently concluded with Albania.  

On Wednesday, Toomas Ilves (PES, ET), rapporteur on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Albania, which needs Parliament's approval, set out to the committee a number of problems still existing in the Balkan country. Mr Ilves supported the agreement as an important step "to bring some much-needed prosperity to Albania", but stressed that full membership of the EU "is still a long way off." He referred in particular to the electoral system leading to "representation wildly different from the actual voting results", wide-spread corruption and organised crime, smuggling and human trafficking, and the persistence of blood feuds.

Mr Berisha asserted that his government had already undertaken very significant reforms in order to comply with EU standards in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and even with the Copenhagen criteria. Thanks to the "high professionalism and commitment of our law enforcement and extensive cooperation with friendly nations, the rule of law is now upheld across the country," he said.

With regard to Kosovo, the Albanian Prime Minister said that Serbia needed to show more realism. He stressed that the Albanian Kosovars had no intention of joining Albania and that there were full guarantees for the respect of minority rights in Kosovo, particularly those of the Serb minority.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on 12 July on whether to approve the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Albania, with a plenary vote to follow in September.

22/06/2006

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Chair : Elmar BROK (EPP-ED, DE)

Procedure: Assent

Plenary vote: September, Strasbourg