TIRANA, November 8 – The European Commission published the Progress Report for all candidate countries on Wednesday. In the document of 144 pages, which examines all the areas monitored over the course of a year, the good progress of Albania is evaluated in some sectors, but problems are highlighted in many others, among which is the level of corruption.
Albania has a level of preparation in the fight against corruption. Despite some progress and ongoing efforts in the fight against corruption, including a number of high-profile convictions and high-profile financial investigations, it remains an area of serious concern. According to the report, in general, corruption is widespread in many areas of public life and business, and measures to prevent it continue to have a limited impact, especially in vulnerable sectors.
Justice, according to Brussels, has had good results this year, not to mention the arrest of several high officials for corruption, as was the case of the former Minister of the Environment, Lefter Koka. But significant results in the fight against corruption and organized crime are recommended. “Increasing the number of final convictions in high-profile cases remains an important priority to further address the culture of impunity.”
The political situation is considered polarized and the fact that the majority did not take into account the opposition’s request for several investigative commissions is evident, while it is mentioned the split within the largest opposition party.
As in the OSCE/ODIHR report, it is stated that the May 14 elections took place in a calm atmosphere, but there were no shortage of denunciations of use of the administration and vote buying. The report calls for the next step to be taken regarding the integration process, the opening of the chapters that starts after the holding of the second Albania-EU intergovernmental conference. /argumentum.al
