The European Commission has reprimanded Albania for its polarized political climate.
In the Progress Report for 2023, the Commission states that the May 14 local elections were conducted in a generally calm manner, with concerns relating to the misuse of state resources, claims of pressure on public sector workers and voters, and allegations of vote buying.
Just two days prior to these elections, “Together We Win” coalition candidate Fredi Beleri, later elected mayor of the Municipality of Himara, was arrested on suspicions of vote buying.
According to the Progress Report, the political scene in Albania continued to be marked by political polarization, against the background of persistent deep divisions within the largest opposition party.
Delays and politicization of the appointments of the Ombudsperson and of the new Anti-Discrimination Commissioner weaken the independent institutions, according to the European Commission, which however, commends the country for actively engaging in the screening process, preparing for the next steps of the accession negotiations.
However, the Progress Report highlights that the Albanian Government needs to refrain from measures that are not in line with EU standards, and must also engage in stronger public communication on the EU accession process.
While the civil society is generally free, the EC notices that shortcomings have negatively impacted the ability of civil society organizations to contribute to policy processes, advising for its role to be strengthened.
Albania remains moderately prepared in the area of public administration, as well as on the functioning of the judiciary. On the first level, the Commission states that new strategies on public administration reform and public financial management reform have yet to be prepared and adopted, while the reorganization of roles and responsibilities within the Office of the Prime Minister is still ongoing. Provisions on merit-based recruitment in the Civil Service Law are not consistently applied, especially at senior management level. The Commission also advises for increased attention on digital security and protection of personal data, especially following the cyberattacks in 2022 and a number of data leaks.
The implementation of the justice reform continued, resulting in good progress overall. The Progress Report notices that the Specialized Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) achieved further results. The efficiency of the judicial system and access to justice continued to be affected by the long timescale of proceedings, increased workload and high backlog of cases, which remains particularly high in appeal and first instance courts.
The report highlights that Albania must ensure that criminal procedures are systematically initiated against judges and prosecutors whose vetting process revealed criminal elements and the case management system as well as the judicial training system need improvement to further increase efficiency and professionalism across the sector.
Albania has some level of preparation in the fight against corruption. Despite some progress and continued efforts in fighting corruption, it remains an area of serious concern for the European Commission. SPAK bodies have conducted investigations in a number of high-level cases, ordering several arrests and convictions in a number of high-level cases. However, corruption is prevalent in many areas of public and business life and preventive measures continue to have a limited impact, particularly in vulnerable sectors. The Commission highlights increasing the number of final convictions at a high-level as an important priority to further tackle the culture of impunity. Further efforts are needed to ensure due judicial follow-up vetting cases where there are indications of criminal offenses.
Albania also has some level of preparation in the fight against organized crime, with a continued good level of cooperation with EU member states and EU agencies. More efforts need to be made in the fight against illicit drugs, the Progress Report states, while the country needs to ensure that mechanisms are in place to effectively prevent cannabis from being diverted to unintended use.
Countering cybercrime, money laundering and preventing and combatting trafficking in human beings remain areas in which additional results are needed. All forms of child sexual abuse online should be criminalized and prosecuted.
On other notes, Albania is in between some and moderate level of preparation in the area of freedom of expression. Limited progress was made, while the atmosphere of verbal and physical attacks, smear campaigns and intimidation lawsuits against journalists has not improved.
However, the country has a good level of preparation as regards external relations, foreign security and defense. Albania has further aligned its legislation with the EU acquis and has maintained full alignment with all relevant EU decisions and declarations during the reporting period. As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council since January 2022, Albania continues to be actively engaged in promoting and defending the rules-based international order as well as Women, Peace and Security.