At a time when the country has been engulfed by major scandals, including the case of Belinda Balluku, AKSHI, KAYO and, most recently, SHISH, former President Bamir Topi has said that European Union member states and Albania’s allies in NATO have sufficient information about what is happening in the country.
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Speaking on News24, Topi said Albania’s assessment by its international partners is based not only on the government’s public statements, but also on information gathered by the diplomatic and political structures of partner countries.
“It is not a matter for NATO. NATO is the largest alliance for peace and security, but there are other instruments as well. These include diplomatic services and the political structures of the respective governments, which gather and process information, and it is then up to them how they convey their concerns. I am convinced that they have extensive information.
We are part of international forums and have a process that the prime minister describes as successful. There was a statement regarding the opening of the chapters for the EU, but the issue is not whether you are successful when a chapter is opened; it is when it is closed.
In this process, all EU member states have extensive information about political positions, attitudes toward institutions, how strong the institutions are, what is happening with justice-related issues, and whether they are being attacked or not.
I do not think there is any citizen who is so naive as to believe the statements coming from the press office at Rinas Airport or the prime minister’s office that we are achieving these successes,” Topi said.
Asked whether sanctions could be imposed on Albania, Topi replied:
“Sanctions can take different forms. For example, a member state has the right to say, ‘You do not meet the standards.’ This is not a matter of a selection made by the EU. It is a matter of standards,” Topi said, also mentioning the case of Belinda Balluku, which he considered a concrete example of an obstacle to integration into the EU.
