02/10/2026 | 10:54:15 Thank you, dear Chair. Colleagues, the Council of Europe rests on three pillars: human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Membership carries an obligation to uphold them. Albania accepted that obligation 30 years ago. Today, I fear we are failing to honour it. I speak with love for my country and with anguish for people who deserve freedom, justice and future at home. On election, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) found no level playing field... 01/10/2026 | 19:34:01 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) I congratulate the rapporteur Ms Marietta KARAMANLI for treating a very important and sensitive issue. The report treats the transforming power of AI, what the productivity, public services, education, job quality media etc gain. I agree with the recommendations on the protection of workers, vulnerable groups; ensuring that AI does not deepen inequalities between countries, regions, generations, genders, Artificial intelligence must remain... 26/06/2026 | 10:19:45 Thank you, Madam President. I will speak about the protest in Albania. History teaches us that one of the first signs of authoritarianism is the attempt to suppress peaceful protest. Authoritarian leaders fear citizens gathering and respond by restricting freedom of assembly, intimidating activists, targeting journalists and using state power to silence critics. This is what's happening today in Albania. Many of you have seen images of massive protests in Tirana, Albanian communities across... 25/06/2026 | 16:07:27 Thank you. Dear Chairman, Dear colleagues, Through this report, the Assembly rightly recognises that women continue to face structural barriers, gender biases and increasingly, the misuse of legal proceedings aimed at silencing and discouraging them. The Assembly has already recognised these challenges by adopting several resolutions, as was mentioned previously by my colleagues. But we see in our countries that the situation has worsened. Many women do not get justice or access to justice... 24/06/2026 | 17:46:10 Dear colleagues, I would like to congratulate the two co-rapporteurs for this important report. I want to repeat: diplomacy does not always work with authoritarian leaders. Georgia is facing a serious democratic crisis. The political opposition is criminalised; civil society and independent media are under pressure; academic freedom is undermined; peaceful protesters face repression; and allegations of police violence remain uninvestigated. The right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental... 24/04/2026 | 10:14:11 Thank you. President, Dear colleagues, Today, I want to speak about one of the biggest challenges we are facing in the Western Balkans. There is a structural crisis that is reshaping our societies. People are leaving. Young people are leaving massively. According to Eurostat, in the last decade, over 3.1 million citizens from the Western Balkans have migrated to the European Union (EU) member countries. Around 2 million have received residence permits, confirming that migration is not... 23/04/2026 | 15:58:07 Thank you Madam President, Dear colleagues, Yes, I will support this additional protocol because these changes are more than necessary. When today only 1% to 2% of criminal assets are actually confiscated, while the methods to hide money have become more sophisticated, faster and more global. As I was reading the report, I could not help but see my own country in it. The state-crime nexus in Albania is most visible in the construction and real estate sector, where illicit funds, primarily... 21/04/2026 | 16:13:01 Thank you. Since the end of monitoring, Albania has been democratically backsliding. The V-Dem Institute classifies it as an electoral autocracy with a concentration of power, elections conducted under a party state influenced by drug cartels and the arrest of opposition leaders, no parliamentary oversight, widespread systemic corruption, obstruction of accountability by the socialist majority and the refusal to lift the immunity of high-level officials, including the deputy prime minister... 21/04/2026 | 11:55:10 Thank you, Chair. I thank the Rapporteur, Ms Elisabetta GARDINI, for the timely and important report. I will focus on an issue very close to my heart. Last December, on behalf of European People's Party (EPP) Women, I proposed a resolution to the EPP Political Assembly on Combating Violence against Women in Politics and Public Life, which was adopted unanimously. And I also discussed this with the Chair of EPP Group, Mr Pablo HISPÁN, to propose a similar one. Why? All women here know their... 30/01/2026 | 10:40:34 Thank you, Chair. I will speak on the approval of the Criminal Code in Albania and the chilling effect on the media. This week, on Tuesday night, after midnight, the Albanian Parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Code that contradict the findings and recommendations of the Council of Europe itself. Only a few months ago, the Council of Europe facilitated working groups on the dialogue platform for freedom of expression. Independent legal experts reached a clear, unanimous conclusion...