Albania's Path to EU Membership: All Eyes on the Election

When it comes to Albania's hopes of EU accession all eyes are on the election. Albania is to hold parliamentary elections on June 28. Reading between the lines of the recent EU press release, how Albania performs during the election will all but determine its fate in terms of its becoming a full member of the EU.

Brussels had advised that Albania not even submit its application until after the election, but according to form Albania submitted the application anyway.

In the run up to the election it is crucial that Albania can create a list of all voters, and make sure that anyone who doesn't have a passport is able to obtain an identity card in time for the vote, as well as cooperating fully with external observers of the election throughout the process.

Albania became massively popular with overseas property investors, especially last year, and EU entry being on the horizon was one of the main reasons for this.

All those people who invested in Albania property will therefore be watching the elections very closely to see if their investment is to get the boost EU entry gives to property values in new member states. Accession into the EU has a proven track record of boosting property markets, with Bulgaria and Estonia as shining examples.

As well as that, if the election goes well many people will take the plunge into an overseas property investment that otherwise they might have postponed till the end of the year. So, like I said, all eyes are on the election.