Albania to lodge EU candidacy papers Tuesday: PM

Albania, the former communist state once notorious for secrecy, a gangster culture and corruption, will formally lodge papers seeking EU membership within 48 hours, its prime minister said Sunday.

"The decision to lodge our candidacy was taken after consultation with European capitals which have supported Albania in this democratic step," Sali Berisha said during a televised cabinet meeting.

Berisha will hand over the application on Tuesday in Prague -- the Czech Republic holds the European Union presidency until the end of June -- and stressed that it was the outcome of "reform efforts undertaken over years."

"The lodging of papers will mark an important turning point for Albania which has committed to pursuing reforms on its path to (full) democracy," Berisa added.

"Albania, formerly a country known for its high crime rate and corruption, has today become a country very attractive to investors and foreign tourists."

Albania's opposition wanted to wait until after June 28 elections, arguing that Tirana's bid was already likely to take years to be accepted.

But in any case, lodging the papers is just one small, first step down the road towards joining the bloc, which presently counts 27 member countries.

A series of convergence tests have to be met over a period of years and all 27 would have to ratify Albania's acceptance.

Enlargement fatigue, exacerbated by an economic crisis five years after a "big bang" took the European Union deep behind the former Iron Curtain, has already slowed a bid to join by Balkan frontrunner candidate Croatia.

Progress on Turkey's dossier has ground to a virtual standstill.

The EU's failure so far to adopt the Lisbon Treaty, which was designed to streamline the way decisions are taken as the bloc expands, has also undermined confidence in the bloc's enlargement policy.

French and Dutch voters rejected a proposed constitution in 2005 referenda, and the with the Lisbon Treaty yet to be adopted, the EU has been left running on a stop-gap charter dating from 2000.