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#Albania praised for reform efforts in tackling serious crime, a key EU condition to start accession negotiations

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The EU has heralded Albania’s efforts to tackle organized crime, a prerequisite of its possible membership of the 28-strong bloc, writes Martin Banks.

The authorities say the seizure this week of the largest amount of cocaine ever found in Albania, with an estimated value of €180 million, is an example of progress being made in addressing the problem.

The ex-communist Balkan state has come under heavy Western pressure to step up its fight against drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime as part of its bid to join the European Union.

Positioned at the crossroads between eastern and western Europe, Albania has been a  source country for marijuana, as well as a transit route for cocaine and heroin for European markets.

Albania’s governing parties, though, have adopted a reform package, including tackling serious crime, which meets a key condition of the European Union to start accession negotiations

On Wednesday, Albanian police seized in Durrës 613 kilograms of cocaine, wrapped in 528 packages, found hidden beneath the floor of a banana-loaded container, arriving from Columbia.

The banana and cocaine cargo transited all the way from Italy and Malta to Albania.

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The cargo was intercepted and two arrests were made. The successful operation was carried out despite the lack of any signal from the European countries in which the load passed by before reaching the port of Durrës.

The Albania authorities say the “immediate and effective interaction between the police and Prosecutor of Serious Crimes ensured the successful completion of the operation”.

In the past, the rise of organized crime in the small southeastern country with its extensive coastline along the Adriatic, was seen as a hindrance to its EU membership credentials.

It is a country that already faces many domestic challenges but the European Parliament rapporteur on the Albania dossier, German Socialist MEP Knut Fleckenstein, has praised its efforts to tackle serious crime.

He said: “Since summer 2014 Albania has been an EU accession candidate and since then it has been making constant progress.”

He said the adoption of a “wide-ranging” reforms had been a “milestone on Albania’s path towards joining the EU and becoming a modern country. "Less corruption, less organized crime, is crucial for everyday life in Albania,” he said.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn also voiced optimism about the reform process, saying recently that the Commission will soon recommend, most likely by the summer, that member states begin accession negotiations with Albania.

Hahn said it had had made “important reforms” and was “qualified for this step”.

After visiting Tirana on Sunday (25 February), European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker praised the Albanian government for progress in its European integration reform efforts.

Juncker said: “Albania does not cease to accumulate progress since it has embarked on many structural reforms in many areas. The progress is impressive and it will convince the European Commission to recommend opening of the accession talks.”

Further comment came from Luke Coffey, director of the Foreign Policy Centre at the Heritage Foundation, who said: “Albania has much to be proud of. The country became a full member of NATO in 2008, becoming only the second Muslim-majority nation in the alliance. In 2014 it became an official candidate to join the EU. For a country located in the turbulent, economically depressed and war-torn Balkans region these are no mean feats.”

MEPs have also welcomed Albania’s progress on EU-related reforms and “good progress” in fighting organized crime, saying this could prove to be a "key" to advancing the EU accession process and starting negotiations.

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