Germany to Back EU-Albania Talks, After Reform

A German Foreign Office source told BIRN that at the upcoming EU Council meeting on December 13, Berlin is expected to back the European Commission views that the EU should open accession talks with Albania once key judicial reforms and a judicial vetting law are in place.

The same official source said that it is important for Albania to implement its long-awaited judicial reform and continue its efforts towards five key priorities - in particular, the fight against corruption, organized crime and drug smuggling.

"We welcome the decision of the EU Commission to issue a recommendation to open accession negotiations, subject to credible and tangible progress in the implementation of the justice reform, in particular, the re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors," the official source said.

"We are convinced that the Albanian government has the willingness, the capacity and the support of the Albanian population to sustainably implement the important reforms in the months to come, as required by the EU Commission before opening negotiations," the source added.

The European Commission on November 9 recommended the opening of accession negotiations with Albania but conditioned the start date on the implementation of the justice reform and in particular, the re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors - the so-called "vetting law".

However the vetting law has been stalled by the Constitutional Court after the opposition Democratic Party lodged a complaint.

The official source emphasized that Germany has been following these developments closely since their representatives have also contributed to the judicial reform process.

"We supported Albania's reform efforts in the context of the EURALIUS rule-of-law mission which was headed by...