Albania is advancing efforts to strengthen its response to racism and hate speech, as members of parliament, independent institutions, civil society organisations and international partners met today at the National Assembly to discuss concrete legislative and policy priorities aligned with European standards.

The parliamentary dialogue, co-organised by the National Assembly, the European Union and the Council of Europe, within the framework of the EU and CoE joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, focused on how to further improve legal and institutional framework on equality, non-discrimination and combating hate speech.

Opening the event, Jorida Tabaku, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Public Media, underlined that: “Albania demonstrates a clear and unequivocal political will to advance equality and non-discrimination, and Parliament is committed to strengthening the legislative framework in line with European standards”.

Giulia Re, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana, noted that: “Albania has made important progress in aligning its legal framework with European standards. Continued efforts are needed to ensure effective implementation, strengthen institutional co-operation and address remaining gaps”.

Andre Rizzo, Head of Political Section at the European Union Delegation to Albania, stressed that addressing racism and hate speech is an essential part of Albania’s path towards EU accession and for ensuring the effective protection of fundamental rights in law and in practice.

The event featured the presentation of findings from the comparative analysis of anti-racism policies in beneficiaries involved in the EU accession process and the study “Beyond Definitions – A Call for Action against Hate Speech in Albania”. Discussions focused on challenges related to institutional co-ordination, data collection, public awareness and enforcement, as well as on concrete measures to address these gaps.

The dialogue concluded with an exchange on priorities for strengthening Albania’s response to racism and hate speech, including the role of the National Assembly in advancing legislative reforms in line with European standards.

The event was organised within the actions ‘Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans’ and ‘Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania’, part of the EU and CoE joint programme ‘Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye’. These actions aim to support authorities and stakeholders from Albania and the Western Balkans in strengthening the legal and institutional framework on equality and non-discrimination, in line with European standards, including those of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) as well as the EU acquis. The focus is on enhancing policy development, institutional co-ordination and capacity-building, as well as promoting effective responses to discrimination, racism and hate speech in law and in practice, in the context of specific EU accession paths.

Photos from the event

Contacts:
Iva Çoku, Senior Project Officer, Council of Europe, +355695586499

Besnik Baka, Horizontal Facility Regional Communication Officer, Council of Europe, +355692178430