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.
Showing posts with label albania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label albania. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
World Bank still Screwing!
BalkanInsight Article
Brief summary of the article.
The World Bank finally admitted that a project meant to safeguard Albania's coastal zones was used to selectively demolish houses in Jale, Albania. It's going to be launching an investigation into the handling of the project. An earlier investigation by the International Development Organization showed that it seemed likely that the project was being abused to develop the land into resorts. This all took place back in April 2007, and since then several families have had to struggle with displacement and homelessness.
Brief summary of my reaction to World Bank's reaction.
Um... how did this not a bigger splash? Can we get any decent coverage of events like this in the states? Not that it really matters because homelessness is becoming pretty trendy here as well. But this seems like something that should have been noticed as it was happening (back in April 2007) and at least a minor uproar heard by someone.
If VP Biden plans to make an impact in the Balkans, the first step might be to prevent the World Bank from completely screwing these people to set up resorts for rich snobs to come and enjoy the beautiful beaches.
But hey, we have Hillary Clinton as Sec of State, and we all know how much the Balkans looooove her! That whole campaign lie about bullets flying past her head, that didn't ruffle any feathers...no...
Oh right, the World Bank's statement issued on the whole thing- TA-FREAKING-DA
My reaction to that? Mostly swearing.
In it, the President of the Bank, Robert Zoellick, himself states that the handling of the situation was "appalling." You'd think the president of an organization that powerful would be able to stop this kind of crap from happening right? Then I get more ranty, because I want to know who these Presidents and CEOs and COOs are! How do such incompetent people get into places of such power. It's like giving the keys to a Bugatti to a five year old and turning them loose on the freakin' Autobahn!!!
I digress.
Peace.
Brief summary of the article.
The World Bank finally admitted that a project meant to safeguard Albania's coastal zones was used to selectively demolish houses in Jale, Albania. It's going to be launching an investigation into the handling of the project. An earlier investigation by the International Development Organization showed that it seemed likely that the project was being abused to develop the land into resorts. This all took place back in April 2007, and since then several families have had to struggle with displacement and homelessness.
Brief summary of my reaction to World Bank's reaction.
Um... how did this not a bigger splash? Can we get any decent coverage of events like this in the states? Not that it really matters because homelessness is becoming pretty trendy here as well. But this seems like something that should have been noticed as it was happening (back in April 2007) and at least a minor uproar heard by someone.
If VP Biden plans to make an impact in the Balkans, the first step might be to prevent the World Bank from completely screwing these people to set up resorts for rich snobs to come and enjoy the beautiful beaches.
But hey, we have Hillary Clinton as Sec of State, and we all know how much the Balkans looooove her! That whole campaign lie about bullets flying past her head, that didn't ruffle any feathers...no...
Oh right, the World Bank's statement issued on the whole thing- TA-FREAKING-DA
My reaction to that? Mostly swearing.
In it, the President of the Bank, Robert Zoellick, himself states that the handling of the situation was "appalling." You'd think the president of an organization that powerful would be able to stop this kind of crap from happening right? Then I get more ranty, because I want to know who these Presidents and CEOs and COOs are! How do such incompetent people get into places of such power. It's like giving the keys to a Bugatti to a five year old and turning them loose on the freakin' Autobahn!!!
I digress.
Peace.
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