Debate on property restitution

TIRANA, Oct. 10 – Government institutions covering the property restitution and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held Tuesday a workshop to discuss ways of property restitution in the country, to find ways to remedy unjust property expropriation. Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Rusmajli secured of the government support in the process. “Property restitution and compensation is a vital process for Albania. It is a process that corrects irregularities on Albanians from their bitter history. It is a vital process because it wants to bring property relations based on legal basis,” said Rusmajli. But Justice Minister Aldo Bumci said that there was first needed a calculation of the land cost in the country as there was no proper register with everything set there.
The conference, entitled Restitution and Compensation: The challenge of property reform for a European future, aims to identify ways in which the Property Restitution and Compensation Agency (PRCA) could contribute to effective reforms. OSCE’s top official in Albania reminded government institutions that besides trying to give an end to the old saga of land ownership in the post-communist country, they should also pay respec6t to the court decision on that issue. He mentioned the verdict of the international court which decided to recompense an Albanian with 126,000 euros for being deprived of their property.