The European Union must take responsibility for developments in Albania and hold Prime Minister Edi Rama accountable over corruption. This is the position expressed by Christian Lequesne, a professor of political science at Sciences Po, in an opinion piece published by the French media outlet Le Figaro, which analyzes the protests against the government in Tirana.
In the article titled “Amid unrest in Albania, it is time for the European Union to take responsibility,” Lequesne argues that Brussels must clearly convey to Rama that progress in the EU enlargement process is also linked to reducing corruption.
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According to the professor, Albania’s European perspective must be accompanied by direct demands on the Albanian government to fulfill the responsibilities arising from this process. In this regard, the fight against corruption should be one of the European Union’s main concerns.
Lequesne also focuses on the situation in the capital, writing that Tirana has been gripped by street unrest since October 13. According to him, buildings as well as public and private infrastructure have been damaged and burned during these developments.
The professor emphasizes that the escalation of the situation was preceded by four months of peaceful demonstrations. He notes that Albania’s protest movement was initiated by young people from the cities, who in many cases were educated.
The author compares this situation with the protests in France, but emphasizes that there are differences between the two cases. According to him, in France the demonstrations began with high school students protesting poor conditions in some public schools and were later supported by university students.
Lequesne believes that in France, the dissatisfaction of young people from urban outskirts was exploited by the far left. As for Albania, he highlights the fact that the protests retained their peaceful character for a period of several months.
In conclusion, the professor calls on the European Union to take a firm stance toward Edi Rama and link Albania’s rapprochement with the EU to the necessity of reducing corruption.
