TIRANA, July 14 – In an official visit to Albania as part of a regional tour, the U.S. Department of State’s top official for Europe has told the country’s leaders about the need to work on fighting extremism as well as key issues for Albania like judicial reform, rule of law and decriminalization of politics.
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland on Monday visited Albania as part of a regional tour and met with all top government officials, political leaders and members of civil society to discuss bilateral and regional issues, including Euro-Atlantic and regional integration.
“In all of these conversations, we talked about a full range of issues that are part of the U.S. – Albania Strategic Partnership that we signed last year. We talked about security, the work we do together in NATO. We talked about judicial reform, rule of law, decriminalization,” Nuland said at a press conference. “We talked about the recent elections that you had and the democratic process moving forward. We talked about developments in the region and with your neighbors. And we have of course talked about economic issues, growth, investment, energy opportunities.”
Nuland met with President Bujar Nishani, Prime Minister Edi Rama, Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati and Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha, discussing a broad range of bilateral issues that form part of the U.S-Albania Strategic Partnership, including security, defense and energy issues.
They also discussed the recent elections and the need for all parties to move forward on judicial reform and decriminalization.
Nuland reiterated that without key democratic reforms Albania won’t be able to take the next step toward greater Euro-Atlantic integration.
In a meeting with civil society leaders, she applauded the role of civil society in promoting accountability and transparency in government, exposing corruption, and advocating for human rights and urged them to take a more active role in pushing for reforms.
“The United States for 20 years has invested and has cared about the democratic Euro-Atlantic development of Albania,” Nuland said, adding that “there is considerable work still to do and we will stand with you as you do it. Whether it is fighting the challenge of extremism, whether it is ensuring that the future generation benefits from a clean, democratic Albania or whether it is meeting your aspirations, not only to be NATO members but also to be EU members.”
Significant and serious judicial reform was among the main topics of discussion, she said, also hailing the return of the opposition Democrats at the parliamentary commission in charge of the judicial reform.
“Unless you tackle this complex set of issues and you do it together, all interests in Albania together, you will not be able to take that next democratic step,” Nuland said. “And the people of Albania have waited too long for clean impartial justice, to be confident in their courts. So it is not a matter of the United States naming names; it is a matter of this reform producing a better, cleaner system where judges and prosecutors are held accountable for impartial conduct.”
