Need to review Albania’s accession process

12.5.2021

Question for written answer  E-002614/2021
to the Council
Rule 138
Julie Lechanteux (ID)

According to an article published in Le Figaro on 2 May entitled ‘Shortage of law-abiding judges in Albania’[1], the Albanian justice system is plagued by corruption.

The Albanian Institute of Political Studies, quoted in the aforementioned article, claims that the 2016 judicial reform drove many dishonest judges away. Of the 307 judges, prosecutors and magistrates made to undergo vetting of their finances and assets, 149 kept their position, whilst 112 were dismissed and 46 resigned.

According to Sokol Sadushi, Vice-President of the Albanian Supreme Court and one of the people behind the reform, ‘around 50% of judges have been punished’.

The backlog of over 30 000 court cases would suggest that ‘Albania’s two areas of excellence, organised crime and corruption, are the sole beneficiaries of a reform intended to do away with them. Instead, the reform has allowed them to enjoy years of impunity’.

This outcome flies in the face of the Council’s decision of 24 March 2020 to open accession negotiations with Albania.

In the light of the above, does the Council intend to review Albania’s accession process?

• [1] L’Albanie confrontée à une pénurie de juges intègres (lefigaro.fr)