14/04/2026 Monitoring
Following a visit to Tirana from 30 March to 1 April 2026, the co-rapporteurs of PACE for post-monitoring dialogue with Albania, Ionut Stroe (Romania, EPP/CD) and Pawel Jabłoński (Poland, ECPA), have welcomed the constructive discussions with the authorities and all other stakeholders about the implementation of the Assembly’s remaining recommendations. “We acknowledge the considerable progress made in several key areas but also recognise that concerns remain in a number of areas that require our ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders,” said the co-rapporteurs.
They particularly welcomed the adoption of the three by-laws needed to implement the 2017 Law on National Minorities, as well as the marked and tangible progress achieved by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK) in fighting high-level corruption. In this regard, they urged the authorities to refrain from taking any actions or making any decisions that could undermine the efficiency of the SPAK's work, such as increasing the immunities of public officials.
At the same time, regarding the media environment, the rapporteurs expressed their disappointment at the ruling majority's reluctance to fully decriminalise defamation and insult, as recommended by the Assembly and Albanian media organisations. They also expressed concern about the deeply-rooted hostility and polarisation between the country's main political forces, which is affecting the reform process. The co-rapporteurs therefore called on all political forces to overcome their differences and work together for the country's continued European integration, of which implementing the Assembly’s remaining recommendations is an important part.
The co-rapporteurs intend to visit the country at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027.
Albania was under the Assembly’s full monitoring procedure from 1995 to 2024, after which it passed to the stage of “post-monitoring dialogue”, a less intensive procedure involving a limited number of remaining issues.