EuroSpeak: Albania’s progress under Chapter 23

On April 29 2021, EuroSpeak organized an online activity focusing on “Albania’s progress under Chapter 23″. This was the fifth event of a cycle of activities that are being held during January – May 2021. Each activity is addressing some of the most important issues that have been identified by the contributing authors in EuroSpeak. These activities are supported by the ‘Civil Society Program for Albania and Kosovo’, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) in partnership with Partners Albania for Change and Development (PA).

The event was moderated by EuroSpeak staff who at the beginning of the event provided some information on EuroSpeak – the first magazine in Albania which brings to the public in a simpler language qualitative and independent analysis of EU issues, and some statistics on articles published in this magazine over the years.

Jetnor Kasmi, development economist, spoke about thepreconditions that Albania must meet prior to the first intergovernmental conference. During his presentation, Kasmi compared the progress reports during 2019-2020 period. He gave some examples regarding Chapter 23, on the right to life, noting that Albania ratified a cooperation agreement with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) thus helping to identify some of the missing victims during the Communist regime of Albania. Even though, Albania has ratified most of the International Conventions, he emphasized that the main problem consists in the fact that judges and prosecutors have the last word in this process, which brings significant distrust to local courts in Albania.

Dr. Ardita Buna, lecturer at the Mediterranean University of Tirana, focused on constitutional changes in the country as a result of political movements and events in the Parliament. Buna mentioned that the two main changes are made to Article 64, which defines the political system. She mentioned several modifications of the political system in Albania, emphasizing that the best  system adopted was the one in 1998. She also added that as a result of the very high electoral threshold and strong polarization of the two major political forces in the country, people lack options and alternatives. Regarding the recent changes, Buna stressed that the preferential vote for the candidates on the list managed to have a very large public approval and must be congratulated. She concluded that Constitutional modifications and adjustments should not be made on the basis of political interests and benefits.

Dr. Dorina Ndreka Asllanaj, lecturer at “Aleksandër Moisiu” University in Durrës, addressed the Albania-EU judicial cooperation. This cooperation ensures the freedom of movement of the four main elements such as: capital, goods, services and people, as well as it has the main objective of avoiding obstacles between national legal systems. Ndreka also spoke about the use of technology and information system for court proceedings. She claimed that the use of technology in the judiciary system would bring several necessary facilities such as:  reducing costs, increasing the transparency and efficiency of the process, providing quick access, etc. However, Albania has made significant progress in terms of e-government using platforms such as e-albania, but there is still room for improvement in the judicial system. Ndreka believes that the e-justice portal, created in November 2008 and managed by the European Commission. would be a good opportunity for Albania to increase judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters with the EU. She concluded that there is a significant need to coordinate national policies with those of the EU, thus facilitating judicial co-operation with the EU.

EuroSpeak:“Albania’s progress under Chapter 23″