What speaks for Albania
Albania is situated along the Balkan migration route and on the Mediterranean, where most asylum-seekers arrive. The port of Durres has the capacity to register and house large numbers of individuals who attempt to cross the sea and are then escorted to Albania by ships from Frontex, the EU’s border agency. Once in Albania, individuals who are not entitled to asylum could be repatriated, while those in need and those likely to be granted asylum would then be distributed throughout the EU.
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The country has several advantages from an EU perspective. It is not a member of the bloc, meaning Schengen rules guaranteeing open borders do not apply. And similarly, Albania is not a party to the EU’s Dublin agreement that sets guidelines for the asylum process. It is, however, a NATO member, and a NATO anti-terror center is currently being set up there. Moreover, northern Albania is very mountainous, and thus a natural frontier to EU territory.
Is Albania ready?
Albania has ample experience in housing and caring for refugees. It took in up to 1 million Kosovars in 1998 and 1999 during the Balkan wars. And following the influx of refugees into Europe in 2015, Albania significantly increased its capacity to take in migrants. Yet so far, those reception centers remain largely unused. Albanian media have reported that only several thousand asylum-seekers are presently housed in the country.
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