Brussels, 10/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 9 December, European Parliament President Martin Schulz called for negotiations to be opened with Albania and for negotiation chapters “as soon as possible”. “We must keep our neighbourhood as close as possible to the EU. The concrete path for Albania to the EU includes chapters and the negotiation framework being opened as soon as possible”, he said at the end of a meeting with Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama. Albania obtained its candidate status on 27 June (see EUROPE 11107). No date has been set for opening the negotiations - which will depend on progress in reforms in five priority areas (see EUROPE 11131). Rama stated that Albania would continue to make progress in all the directions that the EU wants - the rule of law, the fight against organised crime and corruption, and modernisation. During a conference on the Balkans organised by Friends of Europe a little earlier in the day, he had said that accession was “the only tool for modernisation in the hands of countries that desperately need modernisation”.
Schulz also called on the Albanian opposition to return to the parliament. “Parliamentarians are elected by electors to go to parliament, not to stay outside it. This is a parliamentarian's duty, even if he disagrees with the rules of procedure and structure”, Schulz said. While pointing out that he did not normally talk about the opposition in English, Rama said that he wanted the opposition to return. Stating that this government had responded to all the “allegedly legitimate” requests of the opposition, he added that he was “open” to each proposal that the opposition could want to make, that he would sit down immediately and hold discussions with the opposition in order to find the best solution. The Albanian opposition has not sat at the parliament for nearly six months as it criticises the policy of the majority. (CG)