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Albania asks for EU observation mission for June 18 elections

Xinhua, May 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

The newly-elected President of Albania Ilir Meta asked Thursday the European Parliament to send an observation mission in order to monitor the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 18.

Meta said in his letter to European Parliament President Antonio Tajani that the election observation was crucial to legitimize the outcome of the election.

"I'm fully confident that a broader international observation of the next parliamentary elections in Albania will help to ensure quality of the process, but also legitimize the outcome of the elections," Meta said in his letter to Tajani.

Meanwhile, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama Thursday urged the opposition to accept the offer of direct and real-time monitoring of the June 18 parliamentary elections and agree to take part in them.

Edi Rama and leader of the main opposition party, Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha met Wednesday. But they failed to reach a compromise.

The opposition has boycotted the parliament since February, calling for Socialist PM to step down and creation of a caretaker government that would see the parliamentary elections. Endit