Forum: European Prospect of Albania and Kosovo

On 25 May 2012, EMA in cooperation with KCSF organized the forum“European Prospect of Albania and Kosovo: Different stages, similar challenges”, where the guest of honor was His Excellency Mr. Karsten Ankjaer Jensen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Albania and Kosovo. The event was held under the project “Evolving the process of European Integration”, supported by the British Embassy in Albania, aimed at stimulating a more informed debate without cliché on EU integration and the challenges that it presents for Albania and Kosovo, including civil society actors, media representatives and academics.

The event was opened by the welcoming speech of Mr. Gladis Gjipali, Executive Director of EMA, and Mr. Fatmir Curri, KCSF Program Director. They welcomed the initiative of the forum and stressed the importance of lessons that Albania and Kosovo can take out from each other in terms of European Integration process.

Kosovo can follow the example of Albania on visa liberalization process, and Albania could follow Kosovo\’s example in terms of achieving consensus for electing the president.

Mr. Karsten Ankjaer Jensen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Albania and Kosovo, began his speech by giving a description of his diplomatic career and the particular place that Albania and Kosovo have in it. Underlining the importance of European integration process, Mr. Jensen emphasised that the EU should continuously help the Balkan countries on the path of European integration, but the greatest responsibility is to the societies of these countries that with their votes are to determine how and by whom will be led. Regarding Albania, the ambassador expressed his regret about the indefinite prolongation of this process, as according to him, Albania, considering even the balancing role the country has played in the region, deserves the candidate status. However, he reserved no comments for the Albanian politics. Mr. Jensen stressed that it is time for the citizens to elect politicians who have a democratic mentality and European values. According to him there are still plenty of politicians who cannot lead the country towards the EU because of the interests and links that they protect, their mentality, their past and their present, which are all incompatible with European values. On the other hand, according to Mr. Jensen, Kosovo should not slow the pace of reforms because some member countries have not yet recognized the state. As Kosovo moves ahead with more reforms, the obstacles associated with its status will smooth as well.

In the end, the forum was followed up by an open discussion section where participants were eager to ask and hear the opinion of the ambassador.