Your Excellencies, President of the Republic of Albania Mr. Bajram Begaj, Speaker of the Parliament Ms Lindita Nikolla, Dear People’s Advocate Ms. Erinda Ballanca, Dear representatives of civil society and of international organisations,

It is my great pleasure to take part in the People’s Advocate annual conference.

This year was an important year for Albania and for the country’s strategic goal of becoming a member of the European Union. With the start of the accession negotiations process in July, Albania has made a big step forward.

The initial phase of the negotiations, the so-called screening process, is well underway.

A large number of officials from the government, but also from independent institutions such as the People’s Advocate, have been meeting with the European Commission in Brussels, in order to assess the country’s level of alignment with the EU acquis, and what remains to be done.

You may ask: what does it all have to do with the role of the Ombudsperson?

Actually, a lot.

In the EU accession talks, as you know, fundamental rights, together with rule of law, are among the issues that are being taken up first, and that will remain central throughout the talks. Progress on these issues will also determine the overall pace of Albania’s EU accession talks in the years to come.

In this context, the EU is not only interested in seeing progress on the adoption of new legislation to align with EU standards and norms. Albanian institutions need to demonstrate that those standards are actually being enforced in practice.

This is where the People’s Advocate has a key role to play.

Ombudspersons defend people’s rights, check that the laws are being followed, but also that the people are being treated fairly, that the administration is just, ethical, and accountable.

For this reason, in the EU’s enlargement policy, Ombudspersons are considered an essential institution, guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights.

As part of the accession process, we pay a close attention to the role of the Ombudsperson.

You may have noticed that in our annual enlargement reports, for instance, we systematically report on the extent to which Ombudspersons’ recommendations are being followed up by other state institutions.

In the last country report published in October, we called for the progress on improving the follow up to recommendations to continue. By proposing how to fix certain flaws and injustices, those recommendations play indeed an important role in improving the quality of the democratic life of the state.

Another aspect that we monitor continuously is whether the Ombudsperson is given appropriate resources to run an effective office, which is essential to be able to act in full independence.

In short: in the context of the EU accession, we see the work of the Ombudsperson as an important indicator of the health of democracy and rule of law.

For this reason, the EU also invests in building the capacities of the Ombudsperson, including here in Albania.

We are very happy to support to the recently launched partnership between the Albanian and the Austrian Ombudspersons, through the Boltzmann Institute.

I hope that this partnership will bring a strong contribution to strengthen the People’s Advocate’s capacity to protect and promote human rights.

To conclude, let me simply recall that the values that Ombudsperson are here to defend are those that are at the core of the European Union.

As part of our support to Albania’s EU integration, we will therefore continue to support the role of this important independent institution, given its central role for the country’s democracy. 

Thank you