The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Coming Home. Albania in the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean a m a Manuel Montobbio of State and Government held in November, 2005 r o Diplomat and Doctor in Political Science1 n in Barcelona. The occasion marked the tenth anniver- a sary of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference, also P At the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference, held held in Barcelona and which gave birth to the Barc- in Lisbon on 5-6 November 2007, it was decided to elona Process. Having presented a request to this accept requests from Mauritania and Albania to become effect, Albania was invited as a guest. Given the full members of the Barcelona Process (BP). 2008 extraordinary nature of the Summit, Albania’s pres- 9 0 0 was therefore witness to Albania’s progressive and ence did not imply a decision on the part of either 2 . d complete integration and participation as a Member Albania or the Member States of the BP to for- e M State of the BP, as well as its participation in trans- malise any kind of structural relationship. It did, how- forming the BP into the Union for the Mediterranean. ever, certainly constitute a show of interest and ini- The country’s candidature and participation undoubt- tiated the process that would eventually lead to edly had a regional effect, encouraging others to pres- Albania’s integration. The process began, as was ent themselves and opening a process of reflection necessarily the case, with developments in the heart 5 5 on the development of the Barcelona Process:Union of Albania, and in particularly Albanian diplomacy. 1 for the Mediterranean (BP: UfM). This led to an exten- In fact, Albania’s reflection and definition of its can- sion towards the Mediterranean States of the Western didature to the BP and the development of the Balkans, reflected in the decision taken by the Heads Mediterranean dimension of its external projection of State and Government in the Euro-Mediterranean slotted into the wider framework of defining priori- Summit in Paris (13 July 2008) to accept Bosnia ties regarding its international insertion. Following Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Monaco as the fall of the communist regime, defining these pri- members. Aside from the regional effects or implica- orities represented the necessary external corollary tions, Albania’s integration into the Euro-Mediterranean of the internal transition towards democracy and a process raises questions not only of what and how but market economy, and was characterised by the def- also why and what for; what does it mean and what inition of Euro-Atlantic integration as one of the are the potential effects for Albania and the Mediterra- nation’s fundamental objectives, reflected in both nean? Spain has played a decisive role in this partic- external and internal policies. This was the embod- ipation and development, a priority on its agenda in the iment of Albania’s arrival and a guarantee that there initial stages of fostering Spanish-Albanian relations, would be no return from the transition/foundation in to which we will focus particular attention. process. Debate surrounding the situation arose between two camps: those who considered the devel- opment of the Mediterranean dimension as an unnec- Albania’s Candidature, Early Days essary distraction from focusing energy on the fun- and First Experiences in the BP: UfM damental Euro-Atlantic objective, or even as a deviation that replaces this objective; and those who Albania’s initial involvement in the Euro-Mediterranean considered it as a complement and a forerunner to family took place at the Extraordinary Summit of Heads this. The outcome was settled by Besnik Mustafaj, 1 The author assigns himself ownership of the content of this article. the Foreign Affairs Minister at the time, who took a had attended the conference, returned triumphant to clearly favourable position towards candidature to Tirana. Together with traditional diplomacy, it should the Barcelona Process and the development of the be noted that public diplomacy made a significant Mediterranean dimension. If presence at the Barcelona contribution through the international seminar, Albania Summit in November 2005 constituted an approach and the Barcelona Process: Challenges and Opport- pending fruition, then absence from the Euro-Med- unities. The seminar was organised by the European iterranean Conference in Helsinki in November 2006 Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Spanish rang alarm bells of a possible loss of momentum. Embassy in Tirana and Albania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mustafaj responded by sending a letter in Minister, and was funded by the Spanish Agency December of the same year to his Finish counter- for International Cooperation (AECID). It took place part, in his capacity as President of the Council of on 21 October, just before the preparatory Euromed a the EU, requesting Albania’s entry to the BP. Committee for the Ministerial Conference, and brought m a r together experts and actors from the BP. Speeches o n a from PM Berisha, the President of the Parliament, P Having attained status as a Topalli, and Minister Basha, before ambassadors of Member State of the BP, 2008 the Member States of the BP in Tirana and the media, was a year in which Albania served to demonstrate Albania’s utmost interest and commitment before the acceptance of its can- 9 would learn about and begin didature in Lisbon. 0 0 2 participating in the BP’s Having attained status as a Member State of the BP, . d e 2008 was a year in which Albania would learn about M different institutions and forums and begin participating in the BP’s different institu- tions and forums. Numerous landmark events marked Thus at the beginning of 2007, Albania’s candida- Albania’s arrival: the appointment of Ambassador ture found itself on the agenda of the different com- Ferit Hoxha, Secretary General of the Ministry of 6 mittees of the EU and the BP, which determines the Foreign Affairs, as Euromed Coordinator, and his 5 1 latter’s institutional life and the decisions it takes. participation, along with that of Albania’s Permanent The ball began to roll, paving the way to a possible Representation to the EU, in the institutional life of decision in the following Euro-Mediterranean Con- the Process; the election of former Foreign Affairs ference to either accept Albania’s candidature or Minister, Mustafaj, as member of the Advisory Council reject it, or keep it on the agenda in order to study of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation; it further. Talks held on different levels with Albania the creation of an inter-ministerial coordination group led Spain to strongly support the candidature from to facilitate the participation of the relevant ministers within the committees. The Commission’s non-paper and authorities; the participation of PM Berisha in the (17 September 2007) proposed the participation Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Paris and of the dif- of Albania and Mauritania as regional members of ferent members of the government in the Euro- the BP. This would allow them to maintain, respec- Mediterranean ministerial conferences; the appoint- tively, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance ment of the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, (IPA) or the European Development Fund (EDF) for Jozefina Topalli, and members of parliament Illy Bufi their bilateral relations and at the same time partic- and Ilir Rusmajli as Albanian members of the Euro- ipate in all the institutional mechanisms of the BP Mediterranean Parliament, and their participation in and in its regional programmes. Spain’s support the conference held in Amman in October; and the together with the non-paper set the scene in the celebration on 17-19 September in Tirana of the 2nd autumn for a favourable decision. Consequently, international seminar, Albania and the Barcelona Albanian diplomacy was set in motion, driven by Prime Process: Union for the Mediterranean: Challenges Minister (PM) Sali Berisha, whose efforts, together and Opportunities, run by the same organisers as the with those of Spain, the EU’s Portuguese presiden- first. Many international experts from all areas of the cy and other favourable actors, gave Albania’s admis- Euro-Mediterranean process participated in the sem- sion the ‘fumata bianca’ at the Euro-Mediterranean inar, which aimed to provide information and training Ministerial Conference on 5-6 November in Lisbon. for the relevant actors of the Albanian State and soci- The new Foreign Affairs Minister, Lulzim Basha, who ety, in order to facilitate their participation and allow them to take advantage of the opportunities and mech- The signing of the Stabilisation and Association anisms that this process offers. PM Berisha’s inau- Agreement on 12 June 2006 was a major step gural speech for the occasion made Albania the first towards joining the European Union, constituting the Member State of the Union for the Mediterranean culmination of the ratification process and forerun- (UfM) to publicly support Barcelona’s candidature ner to Albania’s upcoming request for candidate sta- to host the seat of the organisation’s permanent tus. With respect to Albania’s foundation these events Secretariat. Spanish diplomacy subsequently led an have formed the country’s backbone and main nation- intensive campaign to this end, which came to fruition al strategic objectives, organising general consen- with a decision in favour of Barcelona at the Euro- sus and channelling the country’s efforts. The exter- Mediterranean Ministerial Conference in Marseille in nal and internal dimensions are an option for a united November. future to overcome a traumatic and isolated past; a collective project on the long road to Europe and a a m a denied Europeaness. r o n Albania’s External Transformation and To some extent, this situation is similar to that expe- a the Development of the Mediterranean rienced by Spain.