TIRANA, April 5 – Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization, has urged Albania to implement reforms in the judiciary sector needed for further progress towards EU integration.
Freedom House released this week “Nations in Transit 2017- The False Promise of Populism,” a report revealing that Albania’s rating has remained the same since the previous report.
In fact, Albania has made very little progress in the index in the past decade, adding weight to growing perceptions that the country is stuck in transition.
Freedom House, which measures the level of democracy in 29 former Communist countries, recalled that Albania’s accession negotiations are based “upon tangible progress in implementation of the justice reform, in particular, the vetting of judges and prosecutors.”
The watchdog organization expects tensions related to the implementation of the judicial reform to continue in Albania. The international organization also projects complications in the political situation driven by the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for June 18, and any last-minute efforts for changes in the electoral code.
In the report, Freedom House expressed concern over the organized crime, responsible for planting and trafficking tons of marijuana worth billions dollars.
