SP: PD MPs voted against the recommendations for Albania in the EU

In Strasbourg, a meeting of the Albania–European Union Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee was held, where recommendations related to Albania’s process of joining the European Union were discussed.

The Socialist Party said that its representatives and MEPs voted in favor of the document, describing it as support for the country’s European path.

According to the socialists’ statement, Democratic Party MPs voted against the recommendations.

The socialists also stressed that some of the amendments proposed by the opposition were supported, but that wording which, according to the SP, undermined the balance of the document and did not reflect Albania’s progress in the integration process was not accepted.

They also emphasized that progress toward the EU must be based on concrete reforms, European standards, and the results achieved during the accession process.

SP statement:

Today in Strasbourg, at the meeting of the Albania–European Union Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, Socialist Party MPs and all MEPs voted in favor of the Recommendations supporting Albania’s EU membership, while PD MPs carried out Sali’s order, as they had made known, by voting against Albania in the EU.

The Socialist Party did not submit any amendments to the text proposed by the SAPC Secretariat, precisely because two fundamental documents were attached to that text: the European Parliament Resolution on Albania and the resolution adopted by consensus by the Parliament of Albania on the process of joining the European Union.

Under these conditions, repeating the content of these two resolutions while at the same time removing the parts that clearly highlight Albania’s positive progress on this path had neither political meaning, nor institutional logic, nor any added value for the joint text.

It is also important to stress that a number of amendments proposed by the Democratic Party were supported and voted for by Socialist Party representatives as well, precisely in the consensual spirit that should characterize a process as important as Albania’s accession to the European Union.

On the other hand, Socialist Party MPs voted for part of the Democratic Party’s amendments, with the exception of formulations that did not reflect the spirit of a joint parliamentary document. The attempt to distort the balance of the document could not be accepted through the complete exclusion of any reference reflecting the progress recognized and certified by the European Commission’s report on Albania and the announcement on the closure of the negotiation chapters.

The accession process is not served by denying the country’s achievements, but by building on them with seriousness, responsibility, and a willingness to cooperate.

The Socialist Party remains committed to supporting any text, any position, and any mechanism of cooperation that genuinely serves Albania’s progress toward the European Union, on the basis of the facts, standards, and concrete results of this process.