DW: The latest EU Summit had as its focus the support for Ukraine, but also preparing the bloc for future enlargement. How do you see Albania's chances at this moment to advance in the EU integration process?

Ambassador Gonzato: Albania really has the potential to be one of the frontrunners in the accession process. I think it is demonstrated during the screening process, you know during this process where the EU and Albania come together and they look not only at the legislation process, but they really look at the entire environment in Albania, the regulatory environment in Albania, comparing it to the EU standards and see where Albania needs to make some progress in order to achieve such standards.

And during that process, Albania really showed a considerable administrative capacity, they conducted the screening in an extremely serious way, involving all the necessary stakeholders, it was the whole of the government and I would say the whole of the state approach to it. So the first step has been very positive and it left a very positive impression in Brussels. 

As a consequence of this process, Albania has undertaken a number of commitments that are reflected in roadmaps, there is one for the rule of law, one for the public administration reform. These are important commitments, so now is the time to follow up on these commitments and make sure that Albania puts in place all the necessary conditions to have a smooth sailing during the negotiations.

So we really need to ensure that Albania has a consistent track record in this respect. And it is also important that the Assembly, when it adopts the legislation that may be dictated by emergency, needs, etc., that it does so having in mind these commitments and having in mind the need to be EU compliant, so respect for the standards the EU has in such sectors. 

At the same time, I am also optimistic because there is also a considerable momentum from the EU side. I think the number of summits that have taken place, but also if you look at the adoption or the procedural adoption that led to Growth and Reform Facility, it really shows that the Member States are ready to keep up their promise towards the candidate countries and Albania as well. 

You know that despite the very tight financial situation in which we are, the Member States decided to allocate up to 6 billion Euros for the reform and growth plans. Some are grants, some are loans, but nevertheless is a huge figure, considering that the EU also engaged in tackling the crisis in Ukraine, the war of aggression against Ukraine, which has huge repercussions for our continent. 

And the speed with which the European Parliament and the Member States managed to come to an agreement, that should be finalized soon, an agreement on the growth and reform facility, I think really shows that the Member States understand that we need to keep the momentum and we need to live up at the promises to this region.

DW: For the European Union and the enlargement process, good relations among neighbors are a key condition, but meanwhile the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina remains tense, and the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue has made no progress. How much do you think these situations could also affect the accession process of Albania and North Macedonia?

Ambassador Gonzato: I am not here to comment on the situation in North Macedonia, you will have to ask my colleagues in Skopje, but as far as Albania is concerned, I think Albania really has shown its determination to play a positive role in the region, to play a stabilizing role.

And it has done so, becoming a little bit the focal point of regional initiatives, and the way in which they have promoted actively the reform and growth agenda in the region shows the determination to do so. I think that Albania really has a positive role to play in the Balkans and is doing so. This is also widely recognized also in Brussels.

EU in Albania

DW: The EU has earmarked a fund of 6 billion euros for the Western Balkans to promote reforms in the region. How much will Albania benefit? How will the monitoring of these funds be carried out?

Ambassador Gonzato: There are indicative allocations, but they still need to be worked out, but that's the novelty if you want. Under the IPA program there are no ex ante allocations per country, but in the case of the reform and growth facility, there will be a precise amount and it will be earmarked for Albania based on population, GDP per capita, etc. But it can also vary, because it’s performance-related, is conditional upon the accomplishment of a number of reforms, which are defined in the reform and growth agenda. 

If a country does not fulfill these commitments, payments stop and these payments can be transferred to another country, which is performing well. In a way it is creating almost a competitive environment, because the purpose is to try and accelerate the convergence between the region and the EU. 

I cannot really say at this moment, but the figures that have been circulating are really quite remarkable. And they are really an opportunity to boost the accession agenda, because that is what it is meant for, to accelerate the process of regulatory, but also economic and social convergence between Albania and the EU.

As far as systems for monitoring the proper use of these funds, first of all, the EU has conducted an ex ante assessment of what are the capacities and the ability of the country to put in place the necessary checks and controls, but also the reform agenda, so this paper which is agreed between the EU and Albania prior to giving the first tranche of funds. 

The reform and growth agenda contains specific requirements in terms of public finance management, in terms of system checks and system audits and in a way, payments are conditioned upon the country improving its capacity to control the way in which public funds are managed. In addition to that, of course, the EU has the right at any time to conduct system checks and checks of the audit system of a country to ensure that the EU taxpayers' money is being properly here in Albania.

DW: Mr Ambassador, a few days ago, you met with the Head of SPAK, Altin Dumani, and referred to him as a key player in Albania's progress in them EU accession process. How do you evaluate the work done so far by SPAK, and what are your expectations?

Ambassador Gonzato: I don't want to place too much responsibility on the shoulders of Mr. Dumani's. It’s SPAK, I think, that is giving a contribution to Albania's progress in the accession agenda, and the reason I said that is because, as you know, one of the critical elements of the negotiations is the rule of law chapter, and then the fight against corruption and organized crime is key. I think that SPAK is really giving a major contribution to that and in enhancing the credibility of Albania and Albania’s determination to tackle these phenomena.

I would say that SPAK was really one of the key elements of the justice reform. We have been constantly advocating and supporting the justice reform. We want to see it implemented properly, efficiently, and so we have also been expressing our support to SPAK over the years. The meeting I had with Mr. Dumani was precisely to try to coordinate better the way which us, but also the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU Member States, help SPAK to develop its capacities to carry out its role. 

Expectations, I think what’s more important than my personal expectations or the EU’s expectations, is the Albanian people’s expectations. We have been seeing through two recent surveys that, in fact, the level of trust of the Albanians in the justice system has increased. It used to be quite low, but with the recent investigations made by SPAK, I think people have renewed trust in Albanian institutions and that’s fundamental. We keep on saying that unfortunately, young people often decide to leave Albania because they don't see prospects for themselves, but I think that if they see that the justice system works, if they see that merit prevails, they will stay, because they want to contribute to a more prosperous Albania, which has its place within the European Union. 

I think it is important for the political, social, but also economic development of this country, because of course if business people have trust that their financial interests are going to be safeguarded, that they can operate in a level-played field, they will invest more in Albania and that’s precisely what we want.

DW: Can you tell us more about the specific assistance that the European Union is providing to strengthen the fight against corruption and the justice system?

Ambassador Gonzato: We have a number of projects that are there to support SPAK, to support in particular the prosecutorial side, but also the investigative sides, we have cooperation between EU agencies like Europol and EuroJust and SPAK. We also have a number of capacity building projects that try to look not just at SPAK, but the ordinary justice system as well. 

One of the things we are engaged in is introducing the digital case management system. It seems very technical, but it is a system that would allow, first of all, the allocation of cases in a totally neutral, transparent way, but also would allow us to have clear statistics on how the justice system is performing and that will help the authorities to address the deficiencies that are there. 

There is a variety of tools that we have at our disposal that vary, as I said, from capacity building, providing also materials, improving the infrastructure at the disposal of different justice actors, and of course also the political support that we give them in that respect.

DW: In Albania, the socialist majority has approved the establishment of a Special Commission to combat disinformation from foreign interventions. The opposition and media experts see it as an attempt to control the media. What is your stance on this initiative?

Ambassador Gonzato: If you know my background, you probably expect me to say that the foreign information manipulation and interference is a serious problem. I started dealing with it back in 2015, and the EU started addressing this phenomenon back in 2014, with the invasion of Crimea.

It's definitely an issue, an issue that is testing the resilience of our democracies and we need to increase awareness about it, there is no doubt about that. The EU has been at the forefront. We started with the Action Plan on Disinformation in 2019, in the run-up to the European elections, and I was directly involved in that. And then we had the European Parliament that also deals with it very seriously with the establishment of an ad hoc committee on FIMI as we call it (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference). 

The use of the term is indicative, because it is revelatory, because at the beginning we just talked of disinformation, but I think that the phenomenon of interfering with our democracies is broader. It's not just a question of media or online platforms, although they play obviously an important role, but there are also other factors that are used by foreign actors, non-state factors, to undermine our democracies, to undermine also the trust in electoral processes. 

There are questions related to cyber security, there are questions related to covert funding of political parties by foreign actors, there is the question related also to how non-state actors use cultural activities in order to influence opinions, so the phenomenon is complex and I hope and trust that the Assembly of Albania will look at it in its complexity, not just focusing on the media aspect, which is important. And in terms of the response, I think that we have shown that the response has to be articulated over different elements. 

There is, of course, one element which is about tackling these actors and the tools that they use in order to distort the perception of things and manipulate the way in which people perceive certain phenomena, and that calls into question the role of online platforms, and there we used a lot at the beginning the self-regulatory approach, and then with the Digital Services Act we also imposed a number of obligations on these platforms.

But again, it’s important when we say the platforms, is your responsible for the content which you publish, you cannot say I'm just a space and the responsibility of the content is somewhere else. They do have a responsibility, but we also need to ensure that there is transparency in the way in which they take down the content and there is accountability, because you know, we can’t allow private actors to limit or curb the freedom of expression or media freedom. There has to be controls and the involvement of civil society there, is key. 

I mentioned media freedom and freedom of expression, because they are another key element of the approach. That’s why we have the Media Freedom Act now in Europe, which is about safeguarding and ensuring that the media environment is one, which is conducive to qualitative journalism. So, I think that the Assembly needs to look at the broader context here in Albania when it comes to media and we know that disinformation is rife, because sometimes also the working conditions in which journalists operate in Albania are certainly not ideal, there is too much precariousness, but there is also too much pressure because of the links between business, politics and the media. 

We need to have transparency there, we need to ensure that journalists can work independently, that journalists can really produce the type of information that Albanian citizens have the right to have. I think it needs to be a very sensitive and sensible approach to these issues, one that provides clear guarantees that civil society will be involved in the discussions, the civil society will have also a role in ensuring that the measures that are put in place are not conducive to restricting the space for free expression, for free media, for independent journalism.

DW: Let's move on to another highly debated issue, the new Law on Protected Areas. The European Commission recommended in its 2023 report on Albania that the country should significantly improve the quality of environmental and strategic impact assessments in projects, as well as implement and monitor the recommendations resulting from these assessments. Do you have any comments on this situation?

Ambassador Gonzato: As you were saying, it is an important topic. There has been a lot of discontent, a lot of concern expressed particularly by civil society organizations. I have to say that sometimes it is not just a question of substance, but is also a question of process, how you come about adopting the legislation. In this case, it was amendments that were put forward, first by a number of members of the parliament, then by the government, and I think we lost a bit of the overview, what was going to happen, what was the clear impact of these things.

It is important that when such important decisions are taken, because they touch on topics which are dear to Albanian citizens, and which are also quite important for the accession process, it is important that when these decisions are taken, that we do so trying to maintain a climate of trust, so that people know what the implications of the new legislation are. 

I think that the consultation process could have been carried out in a more inclusive and in a more transparent way. We now still are in the process of assessing the impact of the new provisions, because of course, one has to see how the new provisions can affect the management plans, which are put in place for the management of the protected areas and what is the procedure that can lead to some kind of derogation to such management plans.

But, as you said, I think the devil is in the details, the details of the implementation, and one key element is that we need to have a thorough, independent environmental impact assessment before we proceed to any kind of projects. Of course, the procurement procedures also have to be transparent in that respect. 

My position is that the desire of Albania to ensure that it can use its natural wealth and the beauty of its environment and its landscape, also for the purposes of promoting the economic development of the country, is legitimate. Any country would want to do that. 

But, for the benefit of Albanians in the long-term, it is important that the choices you make today are choices that are sustainable and do not impact negatively the environment, the biodiversity of this country, which is extremely rich, and which is in fact what makes Albania unique and attractive. If you lose that, you will become like any other tourist destination, and not necessarily one that is more attractive than others.