Will Albania be the Next EU Member? The Results and Implications of Albania's Election - TLDR News

[Music] hello and welcome to another tldr eu video one of the key aims of the european union is to become bigger and stronger specifically when it comes to east europe and the balkans several countries in the balkans are designated as official candidates for membership including albania who just happened to go to the polls on sunday in a vote that some are claiming will define whether or not albania's accession to the european union will happen in a matter of years or a matter of decades so in this video we'll take a deeper dive into the election explain what it could mean for albania and the european union more generally before we start i'm pleased to announce that because tldr is growing we're moving office into a new bigger space that means we have to move a lot of stuff though so we're holding an office clearance sale all of our merch is discounted including all of our badges for only 3.99 but we're also selling office things like our sofa and our fridge no seriously we're selling them so check out the store if you want a pin or even our sofa it's linked in the description this story comes in three parts the fall of communism and albania's new place in europe albania's 2021 election and albania's future within europe let's start with the beginning and explain the country's history and its relationship with the eu so let's take a quick moment to set the stage following the fall of communism western europe and by extension the european union took a proactive approach to foster new economic and political ties with much of eastern europe in june 2003 an eu summit established a firm focus on the western balkans specifically it was agreed that the eu would open up certain programmes to the balkan nations to offer assistance and help them prepare to join the union if they wanted to just three years later a stabilization and association agreement the first step on the path to becoming a fully-fledged member was signed between the eu and albania it's around this time that formally applied to be considered as a candidate for eu membership however in the light of electoral problems among other issues this application was not immediately considered by the eu then in 2010 the european commission laid out a more structured plan on how albania could become candidate material and visa free travel to the schengen area began only in april of 2014 was albania finally granted candidate status after reform to its electoral system was established and maintained from there though progress more or less completely stalls and it takes a further four years for the commission to formally recommend that negotiations commence for the first time something they'd have to repeat for a second time in may of 2019 however only in march 2020 does the council formally endorse opening up negotiations which ultimately leads us nicely to the importance of albania's recent elections these elections are incredibly important as all elections are but this one's winner will ultimately preside over the intense negotiations that are set to take place with the european commission opening and hopefully concluding each of the 35 chapters of the eu's aqui communitare and making the country the next eu member state something that the vast majority of albanians want concluded and concluded fast with a recent poll putting support for membership at 97 for leaders in europe though this election could reassure them that the reforms they wanted on everything from corruption to polarization have been properly implemented back in march joseph borle the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy the closest thing the eu has to a foreign minister highlighted that we are in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections and in this context we stress the need for all to ensure that the candidate lists are comprised of integrity this is the key to demonstrate the country's commitment to fight corruption and the fight against corruption is one of the key criteria in the assession process and essential for every functioning democracy essentially many in europe wanted to use this election as a litmus test can the country run the election fairly enough to prove that they're fully democratic could they fulfill this essential requirement for eu membership borrel also had some specific advice for the country remarking that european integration should be a shared national objective which requires the commitment of all sides to constructive political dialogue excessive polarization is not a sign of democratic maturity it does not serve the country because it hinders the progress and is definitely not in the interest of citizens the issue for albanians though is that the election has been marred by excessive polarization and a lack of constructive political dialogue just four days before election day a shooting in elbasan outside albania's capital killed one and injured four more including a police officer which quickly led the head of the incumbent socialist parliamentary group to accuse the opposition democratic party of sending groups of paramilitaries and armed men from other cities this led the democratic party to hit back and claimed that a car allegedly belonging to the socialist party was distributing money among voters just hours earlier albania's president in an interview with the associated press had accused rama of running a kleptocratic regime and an ugly copy of albania's former communist dictatorship he also announced that if rama and his socialists won the election and thus a third term then he would resign the president crucially also highlighted the sheer significance of this election but not before lambasting the prime minister further remarking these are decisive elections that will indisputably consolidate albania's european future which is in question first of all due to the current prime minister and with the full results now in the socialists have secured a third mandate and rama will be staying on as prime minister with 49 percent of the vote the socialists will control 74 seats out of the 140 in albania's parliament the democratic party their main competitor won 39 percent of the vote translating to 59 seats the socialist movement for integration secured seven percent of the vote and thus will only get four seats with the social democratic party scooping up the remaining three with rama remaining in his position as prime minister if mehta keeps his word albania is set to get a new president very soon whether you like his policies or not rama's re-election should provide some much-needed continuity and stability when it comes to negotiations with the eu from the very start of his premiership back in 2013 he stated that our goal is clear to govern the way albania deserves to give albanians a clear tangible sight of the european albania they dream of and deserve a sentiment repeated in 2019 when rama in an interview with the guardian stressed that joining the eu was about finally having the possibility to place ourselves in a safe zone from the curse of history today the socialist party's manifesto puts significant emphasis on europe highlighting that albania has faced a number of setbacks and missed opportunities first in getting the candidate country label and secondly about actually getting on with negotiations despite the prime ministerial continuity we mentioned earlier the negotiations with the eu over full membership will not be plain sailing a commissioned report on the status of negotiations on albania's secession published in october was far from exemplary the report stressed that the country remains gripped by intense polarization that implementation of fundamental human rights must be strengthened and that tackling corruption must remain a long-term objective that continues to require further structured and consistent efforts there is also far from a consensus at grassroots level in europe as to whether the eu should even be proceeding with enlargement around the balkans one report by the open society foundation published in february of this year highlights french attitudes to enlargement saying that with close to 60 percent disapproval the majority of respondents said that it would be rather bad or very bad if albania bosnia and herzegovina kosovo montenegro north macedonia and serbia join the eu though the report also highlights that the balkans are seen as a possible scapegoat for wider european issues one in two of those disapprovers held a fairly or very negative image of the eu in contrast close to two-thirds of the approvers said that they held a very or fairly positive image of the eu and when asked what difference their recession would make less than a third said that a session of the western balkan countries to the eu would affect their lives a lot or at least somewhat one of the report's authors mused did the french have a grudge against kosovars albanians or bosnians it would be too simplistic to say that it's rather that they don't really care that being said it is the french and more specifically french president emmanuel macron that many blame for the delays in balkan enlargement in a summit in sofia macron poured cold water over a rapid enlargement highlighting the effort should be dedicated first and foremost to securing and strengthening the existing eu and its members before turning to expansion remarking these last 15 years have shown that europe was weakened by thinking of enlarging the eu must look with great prudence and rigor at any new enlargement i'm not in favor of moving towards enlargement before having all the necessary certainty and having made real reform to allow a deepening and better functioning european union but what do you think will albania become a fully-fledged member of the european union in the coming years will enlargement be more difficult as nations and citizens turn their ire towards the eu or are things just too complicated to call at the moment as always 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Channel: TLDR News EU

Views: 212,649

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Length: 11min 21sec (681 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 28 2021