EU to decide on Albania’s visa liberalisation by May

26/02/2009

TIRANA, Albania – A team from the European Commission (EC) will visit Albania in mid-March before deciding to liberalise its visa regime with the EU, local media reported on Wednesday (February 25th). According to the media, the team will monitor and report on Albania’s progress in fighting organised crime, issuing electronic ID cards and biometric passports and managing its border. Its visits will continue throughout March and April before it makes a decision in May. At a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Prime Minister Sali Berisha described visa liberalisation as the second most important issue after NATO membership.

In other news Wednesday, the US State Department listed several cases of human rights violations in Albania in its annual report covering 2008, local media reported. The document also criticises the lustration law approved in December, arguing it is unclear in its definitions of political activity during the communist era. The report did, however, praise the establishment of a task force to combat economic crime. (Alsat, Top Channel, Telegrafi, BalkanWeb, VOA, BBC, Lajme, Ora News - 25/02/09)