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Former chief negotiator Zef Mazi 'deflates' Edi Rama's balloon for Albania's EU membership by 2029, describing his promise as simply for internal political consumption.
The diplomat, who was appointed by Rama as the chief negotiator with the European Union for a long time and then left this position, places the reform of the judiciary at the center of Albania's accession process to the European Union. He states that setting deadlines for integration is more political than technical in nature and that the 2029 target remains uncertain.
In the show 'Kjo Javë' on News24, Mazi emphasizes that Albania does not control the membership process alone. "We do not have such a process in our hands. This is related to domestic politics, to electoral reasons. If we do not enter, who will justify it? ", he declares.
According to him, although the negotiation chapters have been opened, none of them have been closed so far. "We have opened the chapters and we have not closed any," said Mazi, underlining that the road to membership remains long.
He calls for clear prioritization of the most sensitive issues, emphasizing that for Albania the main problem is justice. "We need some kind of prioritization from the environment of the states of this region, which is the issue, the points that are most sensitive, in the case of Albania it is justice with two components, together with the judiciary in particular ," he emphasizes.
Mazi links the system's problems to corruption, the preparation of institutions and political interference. "This is a major problem related to corruption, it is the preparation of institutions, political interference in these institutions, the pressure it exerts, if there is no correct prioritization of these issues, we will have problems again ," he says.
In relation to the European Union, he assesses that politics tries to present integration as an objective that is not affected by internal problems. "In the relations of a state with an international institution such as the EU, politics always seeks to strip its objective of integration of a truth, which this hinders. This hinders, justice must be allowed to do its job", declares Mazi.
He emphasizes the difficulty of setting dates for a process that also depends on external factors. "We have a little difficulty setting dates, for a process that is not in our hands, this is related to politics within the country, for political reasons, for elections, if we do not enter who will justify it," he concludes.
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