Chief negotiator Majlinda Dhuka informed us, with the calmness of someone waiting in line at a pharmacy, that there are no delays, no deadlocks, no tension in Brussels. According to her, the fact that member states have been "grinding" the IBAR report for two months is simply a "normal procedure."
In fact, there is a kind of elegance in this denial of reality. While the EU offices in Brussels are seething with skepticism and the diplomatic corridors talk of a clear deadlock, our chief negotiator asks us to "respect the process." It's a bit like telling someone stuck outside in the rain: "I'm not deadlocked, I'm just respecting the procedure of the lock that won't open."
"There is no delay, there is no stagnation in this process. The discussion between the member states began in March, it continues, it is a normal procedure of discussion between the member states and the European Commission. First, Albania's progress is reviewed for adequacy, quality and new directions for improvement are identified. Secondly, the member states discuss the conditions for closing the negotiations. Albania must respect this discussion process. The discussions continue systematically and are only two months old," said Dhuka at the Integration Committee.
The irony becomes even more poignant when this "diplomatic calm" clashes with the noise of handcuffs being demanded in Tirana. Beyond the official rhetoric that "the process continues systematically", in Brussels they are not discussing the quality of the paint on the facades. They are discussing how it is possible that a government that claims to enter the European family, uses every legal and political artifice to block accountability and to prevent Balluk's arrest by vote.
The case of Belinda Balluku, where requests for arrest or investigation are deepening under suspicions of multi-million euro affairs, is precisely the "new direction of improvement" that member states have identified, but which Dhuka prefers to wrap in the cellophane of diplomacy. It is difficult to convince the Netherlands or Germany that the rule of law is marching, when the "locomotive" of the government is stationed in the defense of the number two of the executive.
So, according to the government, there is no stalemate. There is simply an "exchange of views" that lasts indefinitely. While Albania "respects the process," the process is showing us that high-level corruption and the impunity of the "big fish" have become walls.
At the end of the day, Majlinda Dhuka is right, there is no delay. We are exactly where we have always been: with our eyes on Brussels, but with our hands tied by the interests of Tirana. The door is not closed, they are simply asking us for the key to justice, which we are keeping hidden under the carpet of "normal processes".
