European Dream! WHAT DOES ALBANIA NEED TO IMPROVE?

European Dream!
WHAT DOES ALBANIA NEED TO IMPROVE?

The perception of the current situation in Albania must be real! Not all share the same view about the political climate in Albania. Realistic view allows us to see clearly and cleanly what has been done and what has to be done in the future. Confucio said: “In un paese ben governato la povertà è qualcosa di cui ci si deve vergognare”. In my opinion there are two kinds of poverties in Albania.

a- Political Poverty

b- Economical Poverty

a- Political Poverty

This category includes some "politicians" or "pretenders candidates" who believe that in the future they should represent the people and run the country.

This is very obvious during election campaigns and selection of candidates for future deputies. These are candidates who are not elected on the principle of competition, education or knowledge but by different preferences of their leaders or based on their economic wealth.

It is clear that people themselves faces a dilemma in such a selection.

And then what can be expected from these flows that are whether commencement or resumption when there is a thought that these candidates will determine the fate of the "demos" (people) within and outside the country.

Can we think that these people can lead Albania forward?

This is an issue that would be verified before we reached here. However, the road that has to be crossed is extremely difficult and the challenges are much greater than solutions.

However, it is very obvious contrast of these "politicians" or "pretenders" with EU leaders if the idea is that in the future we will be part of this family, including the political will of our politicians and if we meet the standards required by the EU.

We should point out that representatives of various EU countries are there thanks to their intellectual capacity and thanks to fair competition within EU institutions and not by chance, preferences or different party colors.

Albania does not have only this category of politicians, on the other hand there are other politicians or progeny that recognize respect and dignity by the people who surround them, who are educated and who are skilled at what they believe.

b- Economical Poverty

Certainly, the economic crisis of some EU countries gave its effects in Albania. The fact that the majority of Albanian immigrants live and work in these countries, brought its influence in the Albanian economy, through the decline of remittances etc.

 What are the challenges for a prosperous Albania?

Ø  Economic Recovery

·      Reduction of Debt

·      Strengthening debt management practices; the bank of Albania is related with the developments of Europe, so European crisis affects directly Albania. The revenues of the country are insufficient to meet the debt.

·      Economic stability and growth

·      Fair Competition

Ø  Citizens Safety

In "Security Strategy of the European Union" Brussels is written: “No single country is able to tackle today’s complex problems on its own” Also Albania can not only confront problems without the cooperation of its domestic institutions and especially without the cooperation of its neighbors.

§  Consolidation, cooperation and transparency between Police-Court-Citizen

It is known that there are laws and institutions, police and prosecutors, but more work is needed on consolidating and strengthening these institutions, in order to achieve higher standards of security for citizens in Albanian territory.

-The police should be more cooperative with people, more present not only in urban centers but also in the suburbs.

-The court must do its work in a transparent and impartial way.

-Court should cooperate more closely with the police

-Periodic checks, audits the performance of this institution.

To achieve this, the models and experiences of our EU allies must be following, which are the best as well international organizations such as the OSCE security etc.

§  How safe are Albanian citizens?

§  How safe is the life of an Albanian in Albania?

It is not known and it is never safe. It is not safe comparing it with neighboring countries and EU member countries. Man goes to work in the morning and do not know whether or not he is returning safe back home at night. Why? Why is that? An American expression says: "Everything happens for a reason." That’s true, everything happens for a reason and that is because:

1 - Weapons (weapons without permission) are still present. It is still a field where murders and crimes strike in the city, village, and the peak height of the movement of people, in the middle of the day. There have been cases where innocent bystanders have become victims.

2-Home and vehicle theft

3-Enormous Road accidents

These are reason:

• How many roads in Albania are within international standards?
• How many people have died in Highways: Lezhe - Tirana, Tirana - Durres etc.. ?
• How many people have died just trying to cross the road?
• How many drivers know how to read the traffic signs?
• How many drivers are able to pass the test for the driver license without the help of the money?
• How many mistakes in the designation of the roads have taken lives or have become a cause of accidents?
• How many crossovers are needed in residential areas?
• How many people have died just trying to avoid potholes?
• How many road signs do function?

·      How many white lines that separate the lanes of the road are distinct? And if an accident happen, how should we know that we have passed the line or not if that line does not exist.

 • How many traffic light junctions work?

• Is there any regulation for their maintenance? Many of them are not working for long time. There are traffic lights that have been left disconnected at the red light where the subject often becomes chaos, confusion and cause of accidents for both domestic and foreign.
• Why there are not facades that serve to slow speed near homes in villages or near schools? Here and there in some of the villages inhabited residents have placed pieces of striped concrete streets in order to have at least one extra security element.

I wonder, Taxes that I pay to the state every year for my car, will there be a day when these taxes are put into service and maintenance of the road infrastructure?

Here then all these problems are to be seen and to set goals to reduce significantly the number of road accidents in order to save lives.

Ø  Education and Employment

“A strategy for smart sustainable and inclusive growth”. This is expressed in the motto of the European Commission's communication in Brussels for the strategy of 2020. This expression find place in a great European family, but is also a bell for those who should become part of the EU in the future. Innovation and knowledge are two key concepts at the heart of any society. These concepts are leading to any country that promotes the growth of intelligence and knowledge to further education, competition for jobs, making them more attractive toward EU, to work and study.

In my view, education system in Albania should have an integration strategy that encompasses in a single shaft education, training and employment

§  Education

-   Profesional Education

-  System on the authenticity verification of degree

ü  High Shools,

ü  University

ü  Graduate,

ü  PhD.

It is a required element in the EU countries (dichiarazione di Valore-Italy)

§  QUALIFICATION

We live in a time where technological innovations are progressing rapidly as a result; more jobs will require high standards of qualification, whether in Albania or abroad. Europe requires more skilled people with higher education with innovative knowledge, in order to keep its economy competitive worldwide.

§  UNEMPLOYMENT

Mobilization of employment-training promoting to labor market inside and out of state as a route based on skills and experience. This will help many young and new job seekers to be prepared in order to enter the labor market either European or Albanian.

This is worth it because: many young people are educated but cannot find work, in one hand we influence to increased rates of education on the other hand increased unemployment figures. We should have a public and private mechanism with national and international partners in order to maintain employment and education attached to each other.

Transparency job-Vacancies – Job Vacancies should be advertised with full transparency in public and private sector and not after they had recruit people to work.

RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

The railway infrastructure in Albania is not at the right level. According to the web-site of the Ministry of Transport we have only 447 km railway, with an inventory of 66 passenger coaches, 225 of goods wagons, and 25 locomotives.

The fact that Albania is in a such a geographical position with exits in a Sea and land enables the transport connection with Balkan neighbors but also with those of the EU and beyond. If we refer to neighboring countries will observe that they have very large profits, through the railway system.

Objectives for a better railroad system:

1-Railway infrastructure

2- Logistic Rail

3- Cooperation agreements with its neighbors in order to have access to Balkan railway system, where the Albanian trains travel outside Albanian border either for  a trade or tourism purposes.

Positive Impact:

This will bring a great development in Albania and in the Albanian undeveloped areas. Export - import of various goods, as well as the transport of people, good enough to facilitate the free movement of people within Albania. On the other hand, would bring greater savings to families and will also significantly affect the reduction of pollution.
However, it would increase the number of employees in Albania, many tourists that wishing to explore the country will travel easier.

To improve all these issues effectively takes a long time but many of these problems mentioned in this article can be solved. Finally, we must remember that leaders should lead the country! However, Albania would not have achieved anything without the vision of these men and a few women politicians. Yet political leaders of today should be more capable to address these concerns and solve the problems.