During her first meeting with SPAK chief Klodjan Braho, EU Ambassador stressed the importance of an independent and effective institution in combating organised crime and high-level corruption.

“In my first meeting with Chief Special Prosecutor Klodian Braho, I reaffirmed the EU’s continued, firm support for an independent and effective SPAK. SPAK’s work against organised crime and high-level corruption is essential to upholding the rule of law in Albania,” the ambassador said.

She added that achieving further concrete results in the fight against organised crime and corruption remained a key element of Albania’s progress towards EU membership.

“Continuing to deliver tangible results in the fight against organised crime and corruption is a key element of Albania’s progress towards EU membership,” EU Ambassador Sofia Moreira de Sousa said.

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Pirdeni stated that, “Under the new system, the evaluation will be based on the results and quality of the services provided”.

According to her, “The recent amendments to the law on state administration created a completely new system for measuring the performance of public institutions. All institutions that serve citizens every day will be evaluated on the basis of concrete results in their work through a completely digitalized platform”.

Pirdeni also underlined that, “All evaluation results will be public to citizens so that everyone gets informed, but also the institutions bear direct responsibility because only the service that is measured can be improved”.

The new model of organization and strengthening of accountability of public institutions, approved in July by the Parliament, is an important step towards bringing the Albanian administration closer to the best European standards and fulfilling the closing milestones of the negotiations in the field of Public Administration Reform.

After 14 years in force, the amendments to the law “On the organization and functioning of the state administration” bring about a profound modernization of the administration, with a focus on efficiency, transparency and accountability.

Among the main innovations of the reform are the establishment of a unified system for monitoring performance in the state administration, the reorganization of non-ministerial institutions into affiliated institutions and autonomous agencies, as well as the strengthening of the role of general directorates as the highest level of decision-making for routine processes and the management of public policies.

Furthermore, these changes establish transparent recruitment and dismissal protocols for institutions providing direct citizen services, such as hospitals, schools and social centers.

These changes bring the Albanian administration closer to European standards and contribute to meeting the objective of Albania’s membership in the European Union in 2030. /a.g/p.s./

Speaking at a press conference, Gogu outlined the Justice Ministry’s main priorities at what he described as a key stage in both Albania’s European integration process and the ongoing justice reform.

“After a decade of institutional building, justice must now be felt by citizens – through timely and reasoned court decisions, access to legal aid, enforcement of contracts and a state that functions equally for all,” Gogu said.

He identified three strategic priorities for his term in office: strengthening human rights and procedural guarantees, improving access to justice and increasing the efficiency of the justice system.

Gogu also highlighted Albania’s progress under Chapter 23 of the EU accession process, saying the ministry had coordinated more than 70 institutions and 190 experts, submitting over 8,000 pages of documentation to the European Commission.

On the judicial backlog, he said the system was now on a downward trajectory for the first time, noting that the Supreme Court had reduced its case backlog by 60% compared with 2020.

Among the Ministry’s legislative priorities, Gogu cited revisions to the Criminal Procedure Code, modernisation of the Criminal Code, expansion of the Free Legal Aid scheme and the digitalisation of notary and bailiff services.

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Speaking at the opening session of the World Law Congress, due to be held in Tirana next year, Rama described the overhaul of the country’s justice system as a success story, but said continued support remained crucial a decade after the process began.

“This governing majority will continue to stand behind the justice institutions and will not waver from the legitimate public demand to implement the reform in every detail,” Rama said.

He acknowledged widespread public scepticism toward the justice system, saying many Albanians had lost faith in the principle of equality before the law after years of political interference and weak institutions.

“No one can blame those who remain sceptical, because for years justice proved to them that it was an illusion,” he said.

Rama said ‘the reform has fundamentally altered the balance of power in the country by creating institutions independent of political control.”

“We did what no one had imagined possible – relinquishing part of political power in order to establish an authority independent from politics,” he said.

He argued that the reform’s success depends on unwavering support from political forces capable of shaping its course, describing institution-building as one of the most significant challenges in Albania’s modern history.

“If you stand too close to a large fresco, you cannot see the whole picture, and from up close many things may appear flawed,” Rama said. “Building institutions is entirely different from the political instinct to concentrate power and control decision-making. It is not people who corrupt systems; it is weak systems that corrupt people.”

Rama said transforming the justice system is a long-term process that could not be completed within a decade or two, and would require consistent support over time.

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During a press conference, minister assured that the commitment to the fight against informality aims not only to guarantee fair competition, but also to protect Albanian consumers.

“This is the second year of implementing the medium-term revenue strategy, which will extend until 2027. The strategy has already been agreed with the IMF, but also with the EU. And it aims not only to increase revenues, but also to better fiscal administration, of course without changing tax rates during the period that this strategy will extend”, said Malaj.

According to Minister Malaj, this strategy explicitly aims to formalize key economic sectors that result in high risk, such as the tourism sector or the construction sector.

Speaking about the medium-term revenue strategy, Malaj stated that last year the results were extremely positive in the fight against informality in the tourism sector.

According to him, this confirms once again the potential that this sector has as one of the main engines of the country’s economic development.

“More specifically, the average number of employees for the period January-September 2025 increased by 5% compared to the same period last year. Also, the wage fund in this sector increased by 18%, reaching around 162 million euros,” Malaj said.

Meanwhile, Malaj emphasized that social insurance contributions have also had the same upward trend, at 18%, reaching around 46 million euros.

“In the tourism sector, there is also recorded an increase in VAT collection of 22%, reaching around 40 million euros for the period of 2025 compared to 2024,” added Malaj. /m.m/j.p/p.s./

Vote counting has concluded in five Albanian municipalities – Vlora, Tepelena, Berat, Mat and Cerrik – for 13 mayoral candidates in partial local elections to replace mayors who resigned earlier this year to take up parliamentary seats.

In southern Albanian muicipality of Tepelena, artificial intelligence technology was employed for the first time alongside manual counting by election officials.

According to CEC, voter turnout across the five municipalities stood at 18.45 percent.

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At the meeting of the SP Assembly, Rama said that, “It is high time to deal as a special priority with the depoliticization of the electoral administration and the need to issue the election results at a normal time for an EU member state”.

The prime minister also stated that, “The harmonization of the law on investigative commissions with the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court must be addressed without delay”. /j.p/p.s./

The Regulatory Commission voted in principle and article by article with 3 votes in favor and 2 against the draft decision of the State Election Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi on the announcement of the final results of the elections.

During the meeting of the Regulatory Commission, there were approved the number of votes, the number of mandates and the list of names of the MPs for each electoral subject and for each electoral zone.

The Regulatory Commission also approved the number of votes, the number of mandates and the list of names of MPs for each electoral subject at the national level.

During the meeting, the members of the Regulatory Commission Muharrem Çakaj and Helga Vukaj expressed their vote against this certification.

Çakaj said that, “I had hoped that SPAK would fight electoral crime, but there is no punishment for electoral crime. There happened electoral crimes, but only CEC and SPAK did not see it”.

While Vukaj stated that, “These elections were not free, they were far from the standards; the results were not real and we are in a regime. Under these conditions, I declare my vote against this result”.

This decision can be appealed to the Judicial Electoral College at the Tirana Administrative Court of Appeal, within 5 days of its announcement.

In the elections of May 11, the Socialist Party received 83 mandates while the Democratic Party-Alliance for Great Albania 50 mandates. The Social-Democratic Party 3 MPs, the “Opportunity” party 2, while the Movement for Making of Albania and the Initiative for Albania each received one mandate. /m.q/j.p/p.s./

Speaking at a press conference, the leader of the main opposition party accused the ruling Socialist Party of electoral fraud, warning that the opposition will escalate political resistance.

“Once again, I declare that the election outcome will not be recognized and those who are seeking to sell electoral crime as electoral success are doing nothing but siding themselves with the cartels, with (Prime Minister) Edi Rama and all the perpetrators of the heinous electoral farce in May 2025,” Berisha stated.

DP leader claimed that “oppositions cannot win electoral farces,” reiterating that “the opposition will resist to defend free vote of Albanians.”

“No option is off the table,” he added, indicating the opposition will push to overturn the results and draw international attention.

Berisha claimed “no free and fair elections can be held under Edi Rama’s government,” accusing the government head of “building an electoral state that carries out electoral farces.”

He underlined that DP will unveil all the documents and evidence to prove that May 11 vote was a farce and will then call on Albanians to defend their vote.

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Data from the Central Election commission show that out of 100,835 envelopes counted as of 5pm – part of the nearly 195,000 votes expected from Albanian citizens abroad – the ruling Socialists have secured 54,164 votes or 54.2% of a total of 194 889 ballots.

The Democratic Party (DP), along with its allies, trails with 28, 273 votes or 28.29%.

The Initiative Albania Can ranks third with a total of 8 402 votes or 8.41% in total.

The Opportunity Party has received 3,589 votes.

The Together Movement has secured 2, 615 votes.

Social Democratic Party has received 1 155 votes.

The Euro-Atlantic Coalition Party has gained 700 votes.

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