TIRANA, March 21/ATA/ Albania has made significant progress promoting integrity and fight against corruption”, the GRECO report stated.
The 99th plenary session in Strasbourg adopted the GRECO Fifth Evaluation Round Report on “Preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central government and law enforcement institutions”.
The report highlights that Albania has addressed over 75% of the recommendations for central government and law enforcement institutions (Group of States against Corruption), a body of the Council of Europe (CoE).
GRECO President David Meyer appreciated Albania’s result as excellent.
Albania had received 24 recommendations for implementation regarding central government and law enforcement agencies. Of these recommendations, 18 have been fully implemented, while the rest are partially implemented and only one remains to be implemented.
Attending the event on the results of the GRECO report were Prime Minister Edi Rama, Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption Adea Pirdeni, Minister of Interior Ervin Hoxha as well as Gianluca Esposito, Director General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law at the Council of Europe, ambassadors accredited in Tirana, international partners and representatives from civil society organizations.
Attending the meeting were also representatives of the main institutions that have contributed and engaged in both phases of the Evaluation Round.
Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption Adea Pirdeni emphasized that this evaluation is not simply a technical indicator, but a concrete evidence of the steps we have taken to promote transparency, accountability and integrity of our institutions.
“This is a crystal clear and irrefutable proof of our continuous efforts to improve accountability standards at all levels of public governance”, said Minister Pirdeni.
On his part, Director-General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law at the Council of Europe Gianluca Esposito praised this achievement as an important step in Albania’s reform agenda.
The report highlights that Albania concludes this round of evaluation and does not need to report to GRECO anymore, but may send updates to GRECO on the progress of implementing the recommendations.
The implementation of GRECO’s recommendations is an important step for Albania and the conclusion of this evaluation round adds another homework assignment completed within the framework of the EU negotiation process. /a.f/p.s./
