During a meeting in Milan with Albanians residing and working in Italy, Rama stated that “Albania 2030” will be a transformed Albania, a nation with a new position and strength, a member of a larger family of freedoms, rights, and opportunities that it currently lacks.

Albania today, he continued, is completely different from what it was when the Socialist Party took office, in every aspect—except for the swamp of the opposition and the media surrounding it, which, Rama emphasized, are even worse now than they were when the Socialist Party first came into power.

“There is no doubt that Albania today will not be the same—it will be very different from the ‘Albania 2030’ within the European Union. ‘Albania 2030’ will be a new Albania, a country with a new position and strength, a member state of a large family of freedoms, rights, and opportunities—ones we do not yet have today and cannot have even tomorrow, unless we all, together, make Albania part of that family today. In that family, the individual freedom of citizens and equality before the law are no longer questioned,” declared Rama.

The Socialist Party leader, Rama, pointed out that it was the Socialist Party that gave justice both the “sword” and the “spirit” to make it independent.

“Indeed, it is the justice system—whose ‘spirit’ and ‘sword’ we, the socialists and progressives of Albania, introduced for the first time into the life of our country—as a ‘sword’ entrusted to an independent judiciary, in a nation that had never truly known independent justice until now,” he emphasized.

Rama noted that from 1912 onward, no individual linked to political power had ever been brought before the justice.

“Since 1912, no one connected to political power has been seen going before an independent prosecutor or judge. We must safeguard this by bringing Albania into the EU—where the justice system, now renewed and independent, will remain independent and grow stronger without interference. Because the Albanian people cannot leave this in the hands of successive governments or parties, but must take it into their own hands and defend it with all their strength—with the vote of May 11—the freedom and independence of the justice system we are building,” he declared.

According to the Prime Minister, we cannot leave justice in the hands of those who took people’s lives.

“They are the ‘swamp’ that not only have never allowed justice to have its say, but that very ‘swamp’ has also managed to take innocent lives and prevent justice from doing its job. Today, they want to return again, because the ‘swamp’s owl’ will return to drag Albania back into its pit, solely for its own interests,” said Rama. /j.p./sm/

EU ambassador in our country Silvio Gonzato, said that fighting corruption and organised crime is at the core of strengthening the rule of law and a crucial objective for the countries in the enlargement process. It is a complex and challenging endeavour and requires a comprehensive approach.

The creation of SPAK as a separate structure for the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of corruption and organised crime cases has certainly been a cornerstone of this process – decided and carried by Albania as part of a strong political and societal consensus. The main purpose for creating SPAK was to strengthen the integrity, independence and effectiveness of the authorities responsible for investigating and adjudicating high-level corruption and organised crime cases.

And SPAK has been showing encouraging results. SPAK investigations have resulted in the conviction of several high-level officials. It has systematically used financial investigations (“following the money”) and as a result asset confiscation has improved. The Special Prosecution Office has developed a solid cooperation with its international counterparts including in the EU, to tackle organised crime.

This progress has been noted also by the Albanian people whose trust in the justice institutions has recently increased.

The road towards setting up a new institution such as SPAK, with a highly complex and challenging mandate, has not always been (and still isn’t) smooth and easy. Like any new institution, it needed time to reach cruise-speed. SPAK has had to deal with a legacy of a culture of impunity in the country, and– due to the very nature of its work of investigating high-profile corruption cases – has been increasingly thrown at the centre of attention. By it’s by no means the only actor and factor in the fight against corruption.

Some of the challenges SPAK is facing have been clearly identified in the EU screening report and also in the rule of law report on Albania released last July, such as: the need to enhance human resources and operational capacities; the need for deploying more sophisticated investigative tools; The need to further increase the investigative capacity of the National Bureau of Investigation, as an integral part of SPAK. And another key challenge is the low number of referrals that other state institutions provide to SPAK that would enable it to initiate investigations and conclude them successfully.

The EU will continue to stand by this institution to enable it to exercise its mandate. This also means that we will continue to support SPAK in overcoming some of the challenges it has been facing. And whilst recognising these challenges, I’d also like to point out that, when assessing the overall country’s efforts in fighting corruption and organised crime, it is very important to keep in mind that SPAK is only one part – albeit a very important one – of the country’s overall arsenal, the ambassador Gonzato said.

/sm/