Albania Applies to EU

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha officially submitted the country’s application for EU candidacy status during a visit in Prague to the rotating Czech presidency of the European Union.

This is a big step for this small Balkan country. They still have much to do in the way of reforms in order to bring themselves in line with the EU's standards. Most of the reforms in need of change fall under the categories of justice, freedom and security. These are pretty important categories, but they are also broad and subjective. How do you measure freedom? I'm sure the EU has a very scientific method of devising a citizenry's freedom, but...

Justice is a little easier to define, but it is still a rather vague category. For example, in the US, justice in one state/region can be defined differently in another state/region. Gay marriage in Iowa? Legally approved, so here it's considered just that same sex couples can marry. But in New York? Not so much. Justice varies quite a bit within each region due to different feelings of what constitutes it. It's very subjective, but you can measure "justice" by legal standards, which I'm sure the EU has another awesome scientific/statistical method to devise this.

Security is a tough one. Especially for the region. After all, one would hardly consider Greece "secure" with all of the riots and bombings, but they are a prominent member of the EU. How can you reconcile this? Albania is a relatively secure nation for the region. They are also luckier than neighboring Macedonia, as Greece isn't debating their legal name.

The bid to join the EU comes on the heels of Albania's admittance into NATO as full member on April 1st. Proof that they are making strides in their international relations, and their desire to be accepted by the West.