The UA Embassy disclosed the meetings with the leaders of the 3 political parties that Ambassador Yuri Kim held today.

In an announcement from the US embassy, ​​it is reported that Ambassador Kim met today with leaders of the Socialist Party, the Democratic Party and the Freedom Party to underline the importance of conducting activities in an honest, transparent and orderly manner, in accordance with Albanian law and international standards.

“She reminded them of the observations and recommendations of previous ODIHR reports. For example, in the final report on the April 2021 parliamentary elections, ODIHR’s recommendations included the following: The state must guarantee the right to choose freely and in secret. Any form of pressure to find out if and how people voted should be prevented. Law enforcement agencies must intensify efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute cases of vote buying. Citizens should be encouraged to report and provide evidence of any vote buying or pressure. Albania must guarantee the security of citizens’ personal data. The relevant institutions must thoroughly investigate and punish any violation that affects public confidence in the electoral process.

The legislation must be changed to ensure that the media are able to independently cover the activities of the contestants in the elections with the aim of limiting the use in the news of materials produced by the parties”, the embassy’s announcement states, among other things.