TIRANA, April 8 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Wednesday Albania is fighting corruption more intensively than ever before, rejecting opposition claims of rising graft.
Speaking at a meeting of the ruling Socialist Party (SP) assembly in the northern city of Lezha, Rama said corruption had not been eradicated but was at lower levels than in the past.
“I am not saying we have eliminated corruption, but I can say this: never before has Albania fought corruption as it is doing now. And secondly, corruption is lower than ever before,” Rama said.
He acknowledged that public perception of corruption may be amplified by political debate and what he described as misinformation, as well as by the impact of enforcement efforts.
Rama argued that economic indicators contradict claims of increasing corruption, pointing to rising wages and pensions driven by higher state revenues.
“How can corruption be rising while wages are increasing at the same time? This does not happen in countries where corruption is growing,” he said. “Wages and pensions rise because state revenues increase, while corruption is assumed to divert those revenues into a few pockets. The two cannot go together.”
He added that broader participation in public procurement processes also runs counter to claims of worsening corruption.
Rama pointed to the expansion of online public services as further evidence of progress, contrasting it with past reliance on in-person procedures.
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