“The culture of impunity made the citizens of this country, since the establishment of the Albanian state, come to terms with the fact that being equal before the law in Albania was out of the question. In the meantime, it has became a reality for us to see that even in Albania, as in any modern country, people in office, part of the executive power, are held to account for breaking the law,” Rama said.

They made it possible for us to see today that even in Albania, just like in every country that is ambitious for their own children, it is possible that people in office, also people who are also part of the current executive power, could actually be called accountable before the law for breaching the law. This is something whose weight and importance Albania will be able to fully perceive many years later.

But there is something we know even now: that when we started the reform in justice and we received the support of our allies, all the polls and questionnaires of the public on the reform saw an overwhelming support, irrespective of the political affiliations and irrespective of the typical and tradition polarization of politics; either left- or right-wing supporters or those who are not affiliated with any parties, support this reform in justice.

It is no secret, Mr. Secretary, that here we have a problem. We can’t find a consensus even on time. If you ask anyone on what the time is, we have a left wing time, a right wing time, and we have also a central time. However, when it came to the question whether those who supported the reform in justice believed that they would be able to see in their lifetime important people going before the justice, the majority answered with a no.

Well, here we are today. We are living in a time where the myth of impunity and the myth of the powerful above the law has been debunked. Of course, there is a lot of work that remains to be done. We talked about the challenges. We talked about the advancement of the reform. We talked about how imperative it is to counter the phenomenon of corruption as a phenomenon that must be looked at from the lens of the integration process with all its aspects as well.

But if there is a reason, an important reason today to be more convinced than ever of the value of this partnership, of the value of this friendship, this reason is the commitment of our strategic partners to offering support and assistance to change a chapter of the history of Albania that seemed to be unchangeable throughout a lifetime and for all the generations.
/r.e/sm/