European Parliament appreciates Albanian Reform Deal

On 12 July, Eduard Kukan, the head of the South East Europe Delegation to the European Parliament, welcomed the recent agreement between Albania’s main parties on electoral reform.

The agreement addressed series of divisive issues, such as the re-election of the members of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the use of technology in the electoral process or the right of a minority of the members of the CEC to initiate an audit in case of presumed fraud.

"Following last year's political agreement, efforts have been made by all politicians in Albania to improve relations between major political parties,” Kukan said. He welcomed the news “that in Tirana another compromise was reached as a result of developing cooperation - on reform of the election law”.

Kukan said that in order to carry on the EU aspirations of Albania, further efforts are needed, especially in the areas of reform of the judiciary and fight against organised crime and corruption, which are also “major prerequisites for progress in the EU integration”.

“I strongly believe that by the intensifying efforts on the reforms together with constructive political dialogue Albanian politicians could achieve positive results in the EU integration process,” Kukan said.