EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele welcomes dialogue initiatives in Albania

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele is supporting initiatives for dialogue aimed at ending the months of political stalemate in Albania. Fuele’s spokesperson, Angela Filote, said on Monday (November 15th) this is an opportunity that should not be missed. The deadlock over the results of the June 2009 general elections has been blocking passage of EU-related reforms and jeopardising the accession process. The opposition Socialist Party (SP) has decided to postpone for a week a fresh round of protests against the government that were due to start Monday. They are fine-tuning their demands stemming from the disputed election, by asking investigators to focus on the electoral material used during the vote, a request that will be made official in parliament this week. Prime Minister Sali Berisha has said he is waiting to see the offer and promised to seriously engage in hopes of a solution. If the parties agree on a method of investigation, the protests could be cancelled altogether.