The draft places individuals, families and communities at the centre of the social care system, seeking to ensure universal and equal access, protect beneficiaries’ rights and promote social inclusion.

The proposed legislation addresses needs-based planning and funding, case management, service quality, professional standards, digitalisation and monitoring.

A key focus is the expansion of family- and community-based services, support for independent living and the development of long-term care, with the gradual reduction of reliance on residential institutions. The approach is intended to support Albania’s deinstitutionalisation process, particularly for children and families in need.

The draft would strengthen the role of local government in planning and ensuring services and establish a Local Social Fund to support their development.

Emergency social services would be accessible to anyone in Albania regardless of legal status, age, gender or socio-economic circumstances, according to the draft.

The legislation also provides for professional development, certification and licensing of social care staff, continuing training and professional supervision to strengthen service quality and safety.

A unified information and data-management system would support service planning, case management and monitoring, while electronic registers would contribute to greater transparency and more effective social policy.

The draft also calls for stronger cooperation with private service providers, civil society, organisations representing people with disabilities, professionals and beneficiary groups, as well as mechanisms for complaints, beneficiary satisfaction assessments and public reporting on service quality and performance.

The legislation forms part of Albania’s EU integration commitments, particularly under Chapter 19, “Social Policy and Employment”, and reforms related to social protection and inclusion.

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PM Rama praised the German Chancellor’s commitment to EU enlargement, calling it a vital shift from previous policies that once treated the topic as taboo. He emphasized that in today’s geopolitical context, a highly creative approach to the enlargement process is absolutely necessary.

He added that the European Parliament has issued reports that show the “cost of non-enlargement” outweighs accession costs.

“We look forward to the EU-Western Balkans summit and we will have the opportunity to discuss this issue,” he said.

He also touched on Albania’s integration process, describing our country as the most pro-European in Europe.

“As for Albania, we are the most pro-European country and nation in Europe. Not because I say so, but because every EU barometer shows this,” he said.

Rama added that Albania remains committed to the path of integration and that it will continue the reforms necessary for membership in the European Union.

“We are wholly committed to gaining entry to the EU and will not be deterred by obstacles. We will do whatever it takes and fight persistently to achieve this. However, we must also strategically address current vulnerabilities and weak points to ensure a successful outcome,” Rama said.

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Zhupa said the measure aims to boost teachers’ professional motivation and strengthen institutional recognition of their role in educating future generations, bringing Albania closer to standards applied in several EU member states.

She noted that many EU states provide annual bonuses or a 13th salary for education sector employees as a tool to ensure quality and stability. Albania’s current pay scheme for teachers, despite supplements for experience and qualifications, does not include any standardised annual bonus.

Under the proposal, the 13th salary would be calculated based on each teacher’s annual base pay.

Zhupa said teachers face rising living costs, heavy workloads outside regular hours and a lack of financial incentives compared with other public-sector categories. She added that a guaranteed bonus could help reduce attrition and ease teacher shortages in several subjects.

“This is a necessary step toward strengthening the professional status of teachers and improving the quality of our education system,” she said.

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Responding to DP lawmakers Jorida Tabaku at the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Economy on Tuesday, Finance Minister stated that the lacked a thorough study to justify why this amount is appropriate, or whether it would be sufficient to meet the real needs of citizens.

“The proposal doesn’t clarify whether it would be adequate to meet the citizen’s real needs and it fails to take into consideration the government’s social assistance in calculating the minimum living wage,” Malaj added.

The proposal, introduced by opposition Democratic Party MPs in 2023, aimed to secure a basic standard of living for citizens facing economic hardship.

In an earlier response, Ministry of Finance underlined that the proposal did not consider essential factors, such as existing social support programs or whether the suggested amount would truly meet citizens’ needs.

Lawmakers, including Jorida Tabaku, have expressed concerns about the government’s approach. “Where does the government stand on the minimum pension? What actions are being taken to address the basic income of vulnerable citizens?” Tabaku questioned during the Economy Committee meeting a day ago.

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Basha said in a post on the social media that his proposal aims to shift away from the current system, which he argues benefits party leaders more than voters.

He claimed that time proved him “right”, after he had “exposed the amnesty, sabotage of the Electoral Reform Committee and the closed candidate lists.”

According to Basha, yesterday’s accord between the ruling Socialist Party (SP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) “undermines democratic principles by allowing parties to place candidates on closed lists, where voter influence is limited.”

Basha claimed that the Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama and the DP leader Sali Berisha “do not want the Electoral Reform to be finalized, as they seek to name a handful of lawmakers, who would serve their vested interest and the troubles they face with justice.”

According to Basha, his proposed system allows voters to choose individual candidates, respecting gender quotas and public preference, rather than having the party leaders decide the candidate order.

He expressed his commitment to challenging the current system, which he views as outdated and restrictive.

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In his remarks at the VI National Conference on the Right to Information, PM Rama said that the goal of the commission will be making more information accessible to the public, except for sensitive investigative matters.

“It is time for us to create a National Board with the participation of both local and central government. Prior to coming to this gathering, I read that transparency level and the right to providing information by the central institutions has significantly improved in 2023 compared to 2022, but it remains still problematic at a local level,” Rama said.

However, Rama pointed out that many government offices often withhold basic information from the public, denying them their right to know.

Rama said that the Board will include members from various sectors like government, local authorities, and oversight bodies such as the Commissioner for the Right to Information and the Ombudsman,  the National Agency for Information Society, the Agency for Dialogue and Co-governance, as well as other institutions.

He said that the Board will tasked with closing the gap between institutions and the people by ensuring that every non-sensitive government decision or contract sees the light of day.

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The main opposition DP lawmaker Eralda Tase Bano unveiled the amendment due to be forwarded to parliament, demanding that the fund earmarked for the vocational education doubles to 7 060 million lek from 3 560 million lek.

“Taking notice of the labour market developments, vocational education is increasingly becoming more important. The government shouldn’t force students to enrol in vocational education schools by imposing a grade point average as a criterion, but instead it should invest in this area by making vocational education more attractive to young people, especially now that the labour market needs more skilled professionals in various trades,” she said in a press statement.

The DP-sponsored proposal suggests that the financial effect of this amendment should be met by reducing the government’s operative and non-priority spending, the concessionary public-private partnership contracts and spending for reconstruction of government offices.

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According to him, “If these proposals are realized, the lists of candidates for MPs are beyond the control of party leaders, giving citizens the opportunity to directly elect the MP they want and re-establish the connection between the voter and the MP, which was broken by the constitutional amendments of 2008”.

Basha added that through the Albania One election zone proposal, there is created the equality of citizens’ votes by eliminating the differences between different cities. Thus, the vote will have the same value for the citizens of Kukes and Fier, Tirana and Vlora.

With the proposal for the Diaspora vote, Basha continued, we restore without any restrictions to Albanian citizens with permanent or temporary residence outside Albania their constitutional right to elect representatives in the Assembly. In accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court, Albanians living abroad will be able to exercise the right to vote in the country where they live.

“These initiatives, which we have consulted in advance with the citizens, have maximum support, therefore now is the right time to turn the desire and will of the Albanians into a law so that to give them the real power in determining the MPs and the future government “, underlined the leader of the DP. /p.s./

They say that despite the most recent developments and the terrorist attack on the Kosovo police in the country’s north there is no alternative other than dialogue.

According to them, together with the Americans it should be decided that the Association shouldn’t enjoy executive powers, which would paralyze the functioning of Kosovo.

However, in the ruling party, the Self-Determination Movement (Vetëvendosje), they insist that preconditioning foundation of the Association within the framework of the Brussels and Ohrid agreements will not be implemented.

The university professor Arben Fetoshi told KosovaPress news agency that Prime Minister Albin Kurti should engage in intense communication with the U.S. top officials to discuss the Association issue on the basis of their statements that the latter won’t be granted executive powers.

“What we need now is an intense communication of Prime Minister Kurti with the allies, primarily with Mr. Escobar to provide guarantees that the Association will not be a mechanism that paralyzes the functioning of Kosovo,” Fetoshi said.

The political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri also expects constructiveness on this topic, saying that Kosovo should offer its position in relation to how it sees the Association within the constitutional and legal framework of Kosovo.

After the terrorist attack in Banjska, Zveçan, President Vjosa Osmani said that the solution for the Association is for Kosovo to sit down with the U.S. and prepare the draft statute on the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, within the legal and constitutional framework of Kosovo.

On September 24, a heavily armed terrorist group attacked the Kosovo Police in Banjska, killing one Kosovo police officer. Three more policemen were injured, while three attackers were also killed.

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Kosovo government head also stated that Serbia should commit to withdrawing violent protesters from the municipal buildings and surrounding areas and cooperating in detention and judicial processing violence perpetrators.

In a Facebook post in English, Kosovo PM said that urgent actions are needed to avoid escalation of the situation in the north.

He said that Kosovo government is ready to decrease police presence in and around municipal buildings gradually in proportion to reduction in violence; organize early elections in the four northern municipalities when triggered by a recall petition supported by at least 20 percent of the electorate, as foreseen by Kosovo law.

“The Republic of Kosova is keen to contribute to de-escalation. We believe that urgent action should be taken towards this aim, and we are eager and ready to commit to concrete steps that support the goals of de-escalation and stability in the region,” Kurti said.

More specifically, the steps Kosovo government deems necessary and is ready to commit to are the following:

1) Decrease Kosova Police presence in and around municipal buildings gradually in proportion to reduction in violence;

2) Provide full access and monitoring, by EULEX and interested Human Rights NGOs, of judicial proceedings in relation to perpetrators of violence;

3) Organize early elections in the four northern municipalities when triggered by a recall petition supported by at least 20 percent of the electorate, as foreseen by Kosova law. Election date is to be set following a confirmation of having met the recall requirements by the President;

4) Instruct subsequently the four mayors in question to hand over their authority to the newly elected mayors after certification by the CEC in accordance with Kosova law.

Meanwhile, from Serbia we expect the following:

1) Withdraw violent protesters from the municipal buildings and surrounding areas;

2) Pledge to cooperate in detention and judicial processing of offenders by Kosova with EULEX monitoring and full due process guarantees;

3) Reduce readiness of the armed forces to a low level, no new troop movements, removal of 48 Forward Operating Bases situated along the border.

4) Refrain from impeding or interfering with the right of ethnic Serb citizens and of all political parties to freely participate, without intimidation, coercion, or corrupt influence, in the local electoral process.

Both parties, Kosova and Serbia, pledge to fully respect Berlin Process Common Regional Market rules and compliance with the EU acquis on free regional trade according to established agreements.

Kurti restated Kosovo’s commitment to an intensive dialogue for a full, unconditional, balanced and fairly sequenced implementation of Basic Agreement and its Implementation Annex.

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