“Excessive polarization is not a sign of democratic maturity” The USA: 🧍‍♂️

France is probably wary about what happened to Poland and Hungary.

No corruption in EU. *laughs in Bulgarian*

Love to my Albanian brothers and sisters from and Italian 🇦🇱❤️🇮🇹

I would really appreciate subtitles on videos. It would make them much more accessible to disabled viewers like myself.

i went to Albania to watch Scotland play football, a coupe of years ago.' the people were lovely the country was pretty and no one had any problems we had a great time.

Advice to Albanians from a brother in Sweden: Please do get involved in politics, especially during such trying times. The more people get involved in politics, the harder it becomes for a few elites to take over all power. Historically, Swedish rules did prioritise peasants over nobels, but this is not to say that these historical dictatorships were fair. This system only slowly got upended over a long period of time, first when soldiers demanded representation in parliament, which led to all men demanding a vote, which led women to demand a vote etc. The democracy we see today only exists due to more than a hundred of years of a gradual expansion of people involved in politics. On a more personal note, I can say that your participation in politics really does make an impact. I campaigned in the youth organisations for one of our major parties in the 2018 election, and my local region was one of the few where our party made major gains. This was mostly due to the fighting spirit of Swedish youths who work hard day and night. Just a warning though: Before joining a party, make sure where your absolute core values lie that you cannot compeomise at any cost, and don’t be afraid to cut ties with a party that doesn’t have a chance to move in the directions of said values. If you don’t set such a strict limit, you will definately be caught up in the political dogma of those around you very quickly. Changing your opinions isn’t a bad thing, but don’t let the dogma seep into even your core values. And finally, if no major party upholds your core values, you can do a surprising amount by joining an organisation that doesn’t run for office, since they have the power to influence those that do. Either way, whatever your political leanings, you have to fight for your democracy.

No one: Albanian parties: 🌹

As an Albanian I was waiting for this video of Albanian explenation from the end of voting

I think internal strengthening and reform can also come with enlargement. Countries like Albania are very small and won't heavily impact the existing political balance.

Super interesting video love from italy🇦🇱🇮🇹

Hope you get in Albania you deserve peace and stability 🇦🇱🇭🇷

Hello, I wish good luck for Albanian to get into european union; love to Albania 🇦🇱 from Poland 🇵🇱

I was just thinking about this topic. Excellent timing!

It's crazy to think that when I arrived in Albania in 2006, he was an unknown politician, who then went on to become major of Tirana and later the country's prime minister..

Continuing the theme, you should do a video on Kosovo and Serbia's relationship normalisation process pushed by the US and EU

If it meets the requirements I hope so. The south of Italy and Greece need to be connected more to help them develop, this would aid that. Also the adriatic highway would likely get kicked into high gear if Albania was a member, seeing as the nuem is about to be bridged and with it's membership almost that whole coastline would be in the EU.

Albania should be in EU! Support from LATVIA Albania, keep working on that, we support you !❤

A great start to the day, with a TLDR election video and a cup of tea

Albania? Germany and France will have to watch out for their Leadership position

I think that enlargement doesn’t necessarily mean less reform. Widespread trust in expanding extragrupal integrative bonds promotes cultural and structural values. Inclusive unions between countries tend to improve countries because, as said groups grow, the net profit per capita also grows. In other words, costs remain constant while profits grow.

The EU shouldn't accept any new members until they solve their "rule of law" rules problem - AKA "The Hungary-Poland mutual veto pact".

I would love to see a video about the Cyprus situation. How likely is a Cyprus reunion? Is there a change? What are the people thinking about the situation? And so on

Sofa is now 120£ 😂

I think Macron is totally right about the expansion of Europe. We should connect the pieces we have before we overextend ourselves.

Albanian fan here! TLDR is a great channel! Keep up the good work. ❤️

As an Italian I can only say one thing about the matter: more burek and less chatter

Congrats on the New office

I was reading some of the comments and I find it harsh and a little unfair preception on Albania and its ppl,look years ago didn't know a lot about this country and probably still don't but I was there couple of years back, I must admit is a beautiful country and growing, but I was a bit stereotype about ppl, you know, you read and hear things and you visualise it,then the longer it goes the worst it gets but once I arrived in Albania I could see something was wrong, I truly believe overall Albanians are a very good ppl, and dare I say the most hospitable ppl I have ever come across, I've been maybe in 100 countries in my life but Albanians are right on the top of the list,in my experience anyway, maybe I was very lucky, but I met with visitors from other countries in Albania and they too said the same thing, now the conspiracy one says they want your money, well nothing is free isn't it,,but again I've been invited in houses and sat on the table with the owner of the house and he made me feel like my house, I was truly and genuinely moved, their hospitality is impeccable, they are so kind,friendly, generous, warm,,, really special ppl, look ofc there are few issues but overall I feel Albania and it's ppl are not a bad thing for EU, this is how I see it, it's my experience and opinion, with all my heart I hope Albania joins EU sooner rather than later, Peace.

I hope that you will do a video about Czechia. Thanks a lot

Great video!

My old knee-jerk reaction would have been to want to let them join, and I still want it on an emotional level, but. The EU is feeling kind of fragile right now, it does make sense to want to stabilize things before adding more members. What good does it even do Albania to join, if the whole project cracks up a year later?

Albania has a long road ahead, but the EU is willing to support it. The situation in the country needs to improve a lot. The Balkans is a difficult topic and there are so many different aspects to it. I think it is better to go slow and one step after another. The EU was a bit relaxed when Greece joined and it turned out problematic years later because the problems were not fixed after they became members and it came back later to bite all the other countries.

I would only admit new members on two conditions. 1) Protections against Corruptions / Measures to exclude voting and veto rights on the EU level in case of reducing the Rule of Law, Freedom of Press, Human Rights and Democratical Principales and full transparency on EU money spending in the receiving member. 2) A committment to not leave the EU before all invested money is payed back. Meaning to avoid a country can prop up it's economy and leave the moment it turn from a receiver-member to a giver-member.

I had no idea our politics were so messy, I never paid attention to Rama or Meta, thank you for the info.

I hope all the best to our Albanian friends. Romanians wish that you will join us in EU.

*The result of this has been that Albanians - and particularly the youth have grown increasingly despondent about Europe and apathetic about politics in general, Alfonc Rakaj, an analyst, told Euronews.*

why not take the Balkan countries on as provisional members? they’ve done a lot of the necessary things and this would make the work seem like the end goal WOULD be achievable

Keep up the good work.

Did you record this with a VHS? It's so muffled

Myself strongly support Albania joinning EU of course if the Albanian people wish and they should think very well before voting not to regret later. Of course, is the problem with it's neighbours regarding historically large Albanian minorities. Peace and respect from Romania.🕊

Things are just too complicated to call at the moment... and it's just as it's always been.

So many albanians admire and want to join the eu as you saw on the poll is 97% 🇪🇺🇽🇰🇦🇱❤

Your pronunciation of Josep Borrell had me laughing hahahah but interesting video nonetheless

The future of Albania is within EU. The country has grown in recent years and strengthened institutions.

Your videos are so good. Thank you!

It is WAYYY too early to have a new member in the balkans. Not to mention Albania has a lot of work to do to meet the criteria.

Albania wants to be a EU Member? Last I checked all the u30 albanians are already here :O

Will you make a video on the ratification of the EU-UK trade deal?

Please do a video about the Cypriot elections!

09:13 "the report also highlights that the Balkans are seen as a possible scapegoat for wider European issues": Some things never change.

Now this is interesting.

I really would love to see a video on the Cypriot Parliamentary elections this may

Pal-bania. That's it, just wanted to say that.

Free Tibet, Free Hong Kong , Free Inner Mongolia, Free Xinjiang, Free Macu, free Myanmar and protect Taiwan

Could you do a video about what is currently happening in moldova? Heard they are dissolving parliament but dont have time to read up more.

I wonder if all these politicians are actually conscious of their actions, cause honestly, they seem to do some seriously stupid things.

Too bad that Poland and Hungary have not really understood what the EU stands for

I hope that Albania joins the EU as soon as possible! Viva Europe!

EU: Hey Albania wanna join us? Albania: Yeah i would like to jo... Russia: No I don’t think he will.

I agree with Macron, the quick expansion of the EU the last years has created a situation in which some EU countries nowadays wouldn't be able to entre the EU. The EU has A LOT of problems, it has to sort them out before any expansion.

Such a shame to let one of the oldest people of Europe out of EU. I rather have a union between Italy, Albania and Greece ancient union then EU since EU is such a shame.

As a European I’d gladly accept our Albanian neighbours :)

Can you do a video on the norwegian election?

Maybe you can do a video about Slovenian "non-paper"

Will you guys cover the Cypriot legeslative election? Itʻs happening in less than a month

I think they would be very wary considering past decisions

great video by the way. My question is who in the EU is pushing for greater expansion? You mentioned mostly France and Emmanuel Macron as hesitant in regards to Albania! But Which Nation is foremost asking for EU expansion?

I agree from a certain point of view with Macron’s policy (look at what is happening in Poland and Hungary), however, I also think that the Balcans are a key part for the integrity of the Union as a whole. In fact I believe that Europe can’t afford to lose these key regions to external threats such as China, Russia or Turkey

6:43 isn't 74 out of 140 quite a bit more than 49%?

You pronounce Josep Borrell as in Jósep Bórrell, but it is in fact Josèp Borrèll in Catalan [ʒuˈzɛb boˈreʎ ]

Even suicidal Lithuania is in the EU so why not Albania

They accept all these refugees from the Middle East and North Africa but countries on the same continent are pushed away?

Absolutely yes yes yes!! Although the USA has no say in EU internal affairs, we strongly support Albania and think that it'll be a stronger union with Albania in it

Oh please. The EU has been turning a blind eye to the autocrat in Montenegro so why would they care about the one in albania?

"...the Balkans are seeing as a scapegoat for wider European problems." I guess Europeans are finally learning the lesson Bismarck tried to teach them.

"Excessive polarization is not a sign of democratic maturity" Cries in American

As an Albanian I can say that the 97% of the people that want to joint the EU is because they want to escape their politics.. And (wrongly) think that the EU will fix the Country's problems. I think it will take a VERY long time to join the EU. First because the EU population is still in shock from the Migration Crisis of 2015, and they don't want more mess . Second , Albania should fix its problems on its own before joining , with the help, advise and "pressure" from the EU . The Eu can not do it for them.

I enjoyed the effort made and shown in this video, but I felt forced to dislike it, due to getting three adds throughout its runtime, one before it, one during and one after! How can I focus on the video itself like this?!

Hungary needs to be sorted out before enlargement, and I am in favour of this enlargement, but we cannot have a single veto vote which will block everything like hungary can do now

One of the only mainstream news channels anywhere (in English) speaking about Albania’s election and its relation to the EU - Thank you. I should say though that, unlike other western presidents, Albania’s isn’t exactly the exemplar of impartiality he should be. The situation in the country is remarkably more complicated than what it may seem like from the outside; mainly because the ‘corrupted’ are fighting so hard to keep their power and to please their cronies. Serious effort by the Rama govt. has been made to combat this but its not perfect and I am sure that even the socialist govt. has brushed quite a bit under the carpet. I think the way albanians see it is that if we were to join the EU, the amount of scrutiny on our country’s political system would inherently prevent (or at least reduce) wide-scale corruption. I also think it has a lot to do with identity, I feel a lot of albanians dont feel like they are recognised as part of europe at all (The amount of people who don’t even know where our country is is acc astonishing) Not to be biased, but the socialist party (from what I understand being an British Alb) is the ‘lesser of the evils’ and is probably the only party consolidated enough in leadership and policy that it can govern somewhat effectively. However, because people are still voting for the democratic party (whose policies plunged the country into a brief civil war in the late 90s), it legitimises a lot of the people who were politically active in that era and it lets the same corrupt people stay in office. Its obvious though that before real reform can come, a seriously long period of stability needs to take place. Even though he’s somewhat unpopular, Rama is probably the only person smart enough to negotiate his way through all of the corruption and finally improve things to a point where Europe will see Albania as a serious candidate. Sorry for the long comment, its rare to see Albania being the focus of the news so I thought Id say my piece. :)

The EU has enough democracy problems with current members (poland, hungary...)

why have you gone back to rendering at 15fps?! we fixed this and now youve gone back? wtf

Ah man I Just bought a sofa!!! 😭and it’s so much cheaper... well I’m not in London so transporting it would shot the price up soo 🥲

I love schiperist.♥️🇦🇱

Every time he says Bosnia and Herzegovenia I die inside

This is something I’d like help with, your pins. I’m American and need to know how to pay in USD as it shows it in European currencies.

I know it will take a while to join but I think the EU is treating itself as a rich and sophisticated private club. But as a young Albanian living in a country with many problems feels like I am wasting my time here that's why many of us want and have left the country that's why there are more people living outside the country than inside. Albanians are already in the EU just their country isnt

If they will be a net contributor, then sure.

Albania was,is, and will be part of Europe . Albania,Montenegro,Croatia they have the most beautiful sea in Europe ( Adriatic Sea) this is a good position for holiday makers , and for fishing, great and beautiful mountais, great history , great beautiful cityes and villages, best drinking water in the world , best food, and very strong family system , and very good looking people. Europe most be proud for west Balkan. 🇦🇱🇪🇺

can u do a video on slovenia pls. we need you to raise atention onproblems in this little nation as well.

Pretty rich stuff coming from the EU commissioner, considering some of their most prominent member states including Borrell's home country about polarization and "maturity"

Everybody is welcomed :) Hello from Romania!

As as Albanian i think we all Albanians should not think or care bout EU , lets work on making our country better and focus on our people, theres more chance for EU to dissentigrate than expand lol

i thought the title said alabama. i was very shocked to hear this news

reminds me on a Georgian student, we were together in various seminars. he was (2015/16) so convinced that Georgia will join the EU in the next few years, while I tried to keep his high optimism a bit lower bcz of the refugee crises and the discussion in other countries to stop taking new poor countries into the EU.

You just have to look to Hungary and Poland to see what Macron is on about. You either have to make certain that countries really are permanantely democratic and progressive nations to join the EU, or significantly reduce the power countries governments get in the EU, which won't happen, since those very countries and governments will always vote against it, just like anything serious the EU wants to achieve unless they get bribed by the EU support to do so, while at the same time whining about the EU that pushes so much money to them. Add to that that small countries are extremely outbalanced in their power inside the EU, and you can easily see, why the EU shouldn't be too eager to accept new full members. Sure Schengen, free trade, ..., but voting rights, that's the real issue.

love your videos, but I really think you should be a bit more careful Bosnia is not a candidate yet

interesting video

Too tricky to call