Albania Embarks on Treacherous Road to EU

Bulgaria in EU | April 28, 2009, Tuesday // 17:44|  views

Albania's Prime Minister, Sali Berisha. Photo by BGNES

Albania's Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, formally submitted Tuesday its European Union membership application.

The news was announced by former Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek, upon conclusion of his meeting with Berisha. The Czech republic is the EU rotational Chair.

Albania followed in the footsteps of another Balkan country - Montenegro, which applied for EU membership in December. Serbia might do the same later this year.

However, it is expected that Albania, the poorest European country, has a long road ahead towards the coveted EU membership.

As David Charter wrote for The Times Monday, " the prospects of joining the 27-strong group have seldom been more complex, with some of the biggest member states turning their faces firmly against enlargement."

The author points out that the experience of Romania's and Bulgaria's accession has made the EU "wary of further expansion" and "led to greater scrutiny of the current candidate countries and the potential candidates."

According to the publication, the membership process for the two former Communist nations was rushed and without enough insistence on internal reforms to safeguard the enormous sums of EU money and to prevent corruption.

 

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Tags: The Times, Albania, EU membership, Mirek Topolanek

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