EC says Albania not ready for visa liberalisation

The European Commission (EC) says Albania has completed just one of four sections of its EU visa liberalisation questionnaire, local media reported on Sunday (April 25th). Government and local integration officials had assured the public that Tirana has met all technical criteria in the process. The section praised by Brussels deals with securing documents. The other three sections — deemed incomplete — involve repatriation policies, fighting crime and corruption and dealing with the finances of criminal gangs. Albania began working on visa liberalisation in 2008 and expects to complete the process by the end of this year.