TIRANA, Sept. 9 /ATA/ – Albania should decide for itself how many municipalities it needs under the new territorial reform, the head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Michel Tarran, said on Wednesday, adding that discussions were still under way and no final decision had been taken.
Speaking during a visit to the resort town of Pogradec, southeastern Albania, Tarran said the OSCE did not seek to impose a particular model of territorial organisation and that the choice should reflect Albania’s history, traditions and specific needs.
“Albania should decide for itself the number of municipalities,” he said, noting that the 57 OSCE participating states have widely different administrative systems.
Tarran cited France, his home country, which has around 35,000 communes, compared with countries that have only a few dozen local authorities.
Whether Albania keeps its current 61 municipalities or changes the number to 40, 100 or more should be decided by Albanian institutions, he said.
Tarran said it was too early to assess whether procedures followed so far had been appropriate, stressing that any decision should follow broad consultations at both national and local level.
/gj.m/a.f/u.sh/
