EU Institutions

Albania and the Refugee Crisis

For the most part migration in the context of Albania usually refers to emigration of citizens to other nations rather than immigration into the country. Albania regularly sees a positive net migration rate. But recently, Albania has felt the effects of the refugee crisis more so than many other nations in its area. The Balkans have become a popular route for those seeking asylum in Western Europe. “Interception of migrants and refugees in Albania increased by 15 percent in 2017, leading to 1,047 people caught at the border, while asylum requests increased by 27 percent to 309 people” (United Nations, 2017). Albania lacks a coherent policy on migration and has been accepting these refugees but failing to monitor or control their movements. This has caused conflicts within the region, specifically with Montenegro who has tried repeatedly to send back refugees to Albania, despite the fact that there is not proof that they came from Albania. In addition, Italy has been sending some of its migrants to Albania which the EU is upset about, but Italy continues to send them because Albania isn’t turning them away. There has been discussion of establishing migrant centers in various countries in the Balkan region in an effort to reduce the effects of the migrant crisis and “curb new arrivals”.  Albania would be one of the nations where these centers would be located but the Prime Minister has rejected this proposal (Sputnik, 2018).

Of the case study countries discussed in the textbook, Albania’s policies on migration seem to most closely resemble that of Germany. Although the volume of refugees that Germany took in greatly surpasses that of Albania, the two countries both share more open borders to migrants than other nations on the continent. That being said, Albania is currently trying to gain membership to the European Union and migration is currently a very polarized topic among EU members.  Albania needs to tread carefully before it passes or implements new policies regarding refugees because this could have a profound impact on its status of gaining membership.

Albania and EU Institutions 

Albania was granted candidate status by the European Union in 2014. Because the nation is not yet a member, it’s negotiations with the EU revolve mostly around its relations with nations that are in the EU and its accession for membership.  The road to membership is still underway and as a result of this status, the country has received more attention from the various institutions within the EU. The European Parliament was supportive, and therefore extremely influential in the visa liberalization process for the citizens of Albania (Likmeta, 2010). This process increases the mobility of Albanians for travel within the Schengen nations of the EU, by allowing them to travel without a visa.  The next step in the process toward visa- free travel was approval from the Council which was granted in late 2010. This marked a huge milestone for Albania and its desire to be a part of the integration of Europe.

Another important interaction between Albania and an EU institution came earlier this year at an EU Summit in Sofia (Herszenhorn, 2018). The European Commission recommended the start of membership talks with Albania considering the progress the nation has achieved over the past few years. Each year the Commission publishes a working document to showcase and analyze progress Albania has made toward meeting the Copenhagen criteria. The report also recommends steps for further improvement. According to Herszenhorn, Albania is “under pressure to crack down on organized crime and illegal migrants” and as a result the decision and negotiations on its accession have been postponed for another year so it can make progress on these reforms specifically. The Prime Minister of Albania expressed his frustrations about this statement because he claims that the EU is increasing the number of conditions the country must meet before membership talks are even allowed to begin. At a later summit in Brussels, the General Affairs Council adopted various conclusions on the “EU- Western Balkans stabilization and association process”, which includes Albania.  The European Council later responded positively to the progress made by Albania in meeting the established criteria and endorsed the conclusions as a means for beginning negotiations concerning membership in June of 2019.

In terms of specific policies that the European Union focuses on, Albania recently made an agreement with the EU concerning border management. The agreement promotes cooperation between the two parties as a means to control migration patterns in the country. Joint operations will take place. This agreement needs to be ratified by the European Parliament before it takes effect (Huertas Cerdeira, 2018).

Works Cited

Herszenhorn, David M. “5 Takeaways from EU’s Big Balkan Get-together.” POLITICO. May 23, 2018. Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-western-balkans-sofiasummit-takeaways-membership-talks-enlargement/.

Huertas Cerdeira, Verónica. “Border Management: EU Signs Agreement with Albania on European Border and Coast Guard Agency Cooperation.” European Council: Press Release. Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press               releases/2018/10/05/border-management-eu-signs-agreement-with-albania-on european-border-and-coast-guard-agency-cooperation/.

Likmeta, Besar. “European Parliament Backs Albania, Bosnia Visa Liberalisation.” Balkan Insight, October 07, 2010. Accessed October 21, 2018. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/european-parliament-backs-albania-bosnia-visa-liberalization.

Sputnik. “Albania Refuses to Host EU Migrant Reception Centers – Prime Minister.” Sputnik International. June 27, 2018. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://sputniknews.com/europe/201806271065818205-albania-migrants-eu-statement/.

United Nations. “Progress Report 2017.” ROGRAMME OF COOPERATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2017-2021, 2017, 1-85. http://www.un.org.al/sites/default/files/GoA-UN Progress_Report-2017_1.pdf.