In their new resolution adopted in the last plenary session, the European People’s Party urges the Albanian government and the opposition to overcome the current deep constitutional and political crisis. Back in 2019, the EPP resolution had called for a consensual adoption by political parties of an electoral reform, in compliance with the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. While in this year resolution, the EPP appreciates the consensually adopted electoral legislation, it denounces the unilateral government electoral laws, which “violated the cross-party June 5th Agreement, thus undermining domestic and European trust.”
EPP urges also the Parliament of Albania “to abide by and implement immediately the upcoming opinion of the Venice Commission requested by Albania with regard to the April 25th elections.” The resolute reminds how free and fair election are a prerequisite to enter the European Union, calling for the prosecution of party officials involved in vote-rigging or buying, referring to the prosecutorial files 339 and 184.
A crucial point on the resolute was dedicated also to the need of having a functional Constitutional and Supreme Court as soon as possible. The process of the opening of the membership talks between Albania and EU was postponed in December, mainly because of the unilateral electoral law and the fact that the Constitutional Court was still not functional. Money laundering continues to be a concern for the EPP, asking from the institutions to continue their fight “including in development and construction as cases in the Tirana municipality indicate.” While acknowledging the institutional progress with the justice reform, the resolute underlined that until now no case of high-profile corruption “has been meaningfully prosecuted or brought to justice,” although there have been many cases which were reported by the media.
The resolute stated that the Albanian government should address also the EU concerns and follow the Venice Commission opinion regarding the December 2019 media law. Finally, it supported the DP of Albania “in its effort to address legitimate concerns and European aspirations of the people of Albania.”
