23/06/2025 Session
PACE today called on the Albanian authorities to demonstrate strong political will to address the shortcomings identified during the observation of the recent parliamentary elections (11 May 2025) “in order to ensure the alignment with European standards in electoral processes”. It called on the authorities to, in particular, implement the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, review campaign financial rules, depoliticise the electoral administration, safeguard the integrity of the electoral process, and clearly separate the ruling party from the state.
The delegation also called for strengthening the capacity of the National Bureau of Investigation for Combating Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) to effectively combat this phenomenon, including in the context of elections.
According to the report by Simone Billi (Italy, ECPA), presented today in plenary session by Luz Martinez Seijo (Spain, SOC), the elections in Albania were “competitive and professionally conducted”, but took place in “a highly polarised environment”. The text notes that candidates were generally able to campaign freely, although some reported facing intimidation. The diaspora vote, introduced for the first time, marked “an important milestone in Albania's democratic history” and should be assessed to identify areas for improvement.
Furthermore, the PACE delegation underlined that the ruling party had benefited from widespread use of administrative resources during the campaign, creating an undue advantage of incumbency, and pointed to numerous allegations of pressure on voters, especially public employees. It added that the concentration of media ownership, self-censorship among journalists and the two largest parties dominating the news coverage, limited opportunity for voters to make an informed choice.
According to the report, election day was generally calm and well organised, but with a lack of adherence to procedures in many voting centres, a significant number of incidents of intimidation and party observers and affiliates interfering in the process, as well as allegations of vote buying.