On Friday 3 March, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini warned that a boycott of the Albanian Parliament risked jeopardising Albania's integration process with the EU.
"Boycott of the parliament means blocking the establishment of the vetting Commission and de facto stops Albanian progress toward the European Union – and this in a moment where the country has the real possibility to move forward on its European Union path", Mogherini said at a press conference in Tirana with Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama. In her view, "those who seek to delay or dilute key reforms are putting the European Union integration agenda at risk". Saying that there were signals of opening of political space for dialogue inside and outside the parliament, she added that she hoped this space might be used to make progress on this path.
"[EU accession] negotiations can start the moment when the justice reform starts to be implemented", Mogherini said. She highlighted the need for “vetting” to start – the checking of the judges' and prosecutors' qualifications. Implementation of this reform is one of the five conditions for opening accession negotiations with the EU.
Stating that parliamentary elections would take place in June 2017, Mogherini said it was "crucial to prepare the elections (...) in a free and fair manner". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)