EuroSpeak: “Parliamentary Elections and European Integration” April 22, 2021

On April 22 2021, EuroSpeak organized an online activity focusing on “Parliamentary Elections and European Integration”. This was the fourth event of a cycle of activities that are being held during January – May 2021. Each activity is addressing some of the most important issues that have been identified by the contributing authors in EuroSpeak. These activities are supported by the ‘Civil Society Program for Albania and Kosovo’ programme, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) in partnership with Partners Albania for Change and Development (PA).

Mona Xhexhaj, Editor in Chief of EuroSpeak, greeted the participants and briefly introduced EuroSpeak as the first Albanian magazine to address EU issues. Xhexhaj also provided some information on EuroSpeak sections and explained the way authors can submit their articles to be published.

Dr. Assc. Prof.  Roland Lami, lecturer at the Mediterranean University of Albania, analysed the political language, including discourse and articulation, as a very important message to the audience. In his presentation, he talked about his study conducted during 2018-2019, regarding the language used by the two main leaders in Albania, Mr. Edi Rama and Mr. Lulzim Basha. According to this study, Lami found that terms such as “Europe” and “European Union” are the most used ones compared to terms such as “European Council” and “USA”. Lami added that the leadership of the Democratic Party, Mr. Lulzim Basha focuses on terms such as “Europe” and “EU”, assessing these as institutions that hold a special role and influence in Albania, while the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama, uses these terms in defence towards his government. Therefore, Lami concluded that concepts such as “European Union” and “Europe” are considered as bodies that legitimize the performance and problems of Albania, thus reconnecting the value and importance of language as an indicator of a certain political reality.

Discussions were raised on the rhetoric and discourse of local actors in international meetings, including the priority of the US embassy agendas and EU representatives in prioritizing issues in Albania.

Lutjona Lula, youth activist and researcher with demonstrated experience in the field of youth, regional cooperation, project management cycle and EU integration topics, focused on the impact of the new methodology on the integration process in Albania. She spoke about the innovations of this methodology, which aims to focus on several important elements such as: credibility, policies, priorities, dynamics, stronger political direction, participation of member countries in monitoring processes and last but not least predictability. During her presentation, Lula spoke about the impact of this methodology, citing addressed critiques towards the Union, such as the duration of the integration process of Albania and Northern Macedonia, emphasizing the issue of Euroscepticism. She concluded by adding that the inclusion of the new methodology makes engagement in the process an important and significant element.

Elena Polo, full-time Assistant Lecturer at the Institute of European Studies, University of Tirana, spoke about the role of the private sector in the negotiation and membership processes. Based on non-state actors who are directly or indirectly involved in the integration process, she argued that the private sector and business are not properly conceived as civil society. Polo emphasized that the EU views the private sector as a separate stakeholder, taking as an example countries such as, Croatia, Serbia and Estonia, which share positive experiences. She concluded by adding that Albania has also made some positive efforts for this discussion, mentioning the platform for partnership for European Integration.

EuroSpeak: “Parliamentary Elections and European Integration” April 22, 2021