The Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, Wolfgang Sobotka, gave an interview for Albanian Radio and Television during his short visit to Tirana. Sobotka declares that his country will support Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe,  emphasizing the need to resolve the conflict between the parties and leave the past behind. A good basis for this can be the example between Austria and Italy regarding South Tyrol.

Asked whether or not Austria will support Kosovo’s application for membership in the Council of Europe, Sobotka said: ‘”Definitely yes, but it is not only that. Look, when I was interior minister, I fought for Kosovo visa liberalization. Then we did not succeed, now this will happen. We support its membership in the Council of Europe, but of course we need to resolve this regional problem between Kosovo and Serbia with the parties, has it been solved by them from their solution competence, then it will be easier for the parties to find their way to each other, but it will be even easier to find their way to the European Union. This conflict is definitely an obstacle, but don’t forget that we have other conflicts in the EU, between ethnic groups and minorities. It’s a topic that we don’t only have on the table from the Balkans, but South Tyrol could serve as a good example”,  Sobotka said.

The Austrian Speaker also emphasized that the road to the European Union will be long and not easy for the countries of the Western Balkans.

“Yes, but Austria also needed a long time. It is a path that started for us very early in the 70s and was finalized in 1994. It means that this process of rapprochement and alignment is not only a matter of the European Union’s requirements, but it is also a matter of the countries that must adapt their justice or state systems to the EU. So we also see for example that what Albania has done in terms of the justice system is to be followed as an example, but there are issues like that of the media, for example we see in the written reports that there is still something to be done regarding freedom of the media or their independence. Or in the fight against corruption, the parties still have a lot to do”, he said.

The Austrian Speaker was in Tirana on a visit of several hours where he also greeted the Parliament of Albania in a special plenary session.

/k.s/