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Transparency International official: Albania is stuck in the country in the fight against corruption

2023-01-31 21:19:50Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Transparency International official: Albania is stuck in the country in the
Lidija Prokic, Regional Advisor for Europe and Central Asia at "Transparency International"

Albania did not make progress in the fight against corruption, recording an increase of only 1 point in the annual report of the organization Transparency International. Albania registered 36 out of 35 points last year. It ranks 101 out of 183 countries evaluated in the report and has the same amount of points as Serbia, Turkey, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Panama, Peru, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Lidija Prokic, Regional Advisor for Europe and Central Asia at "Transparency International", says that the change of one point is not statistically significant and is considered a sign of lack of progress. In an interview for the Voice of America, she states that Albania is stuck in the country in the fight against corruption by not doing enough work to guarantee the basic principles of democracy on the separation of powers, since the government authorities still have a dominant influence on the activity of the institutions of independent.

During the interview with the journalist Klementina Cenkollari, Mrs. Prokic said that as long as the governments will focus on the interests of their party, on groups with economic interests close to the rulers and the public interest will not be a priority, significant progress cannot be expected.

Voice of America: Ms. Prokic, Albania increased by only one point in the corruption perception index. What does this increase mean for Albania, in the conditions when in the last 5 years, its evaluation has been a mix between 36 or 35 points?

Lidija Prokic: You are right, we have seen an increase of one point for Albania in the corruption perception index. Being a small change, we really consider it a sign of non-progress. And Albania is not the only country in the Western Balkan region where we are seeing this stagnation in the country. We have an almost similar situation in Montenegro, although there the number of points is slightly higher.

However, what I would like to underline and which is very important is that the Western Balkans as a region and the countries within it are showing very little progress during these years. Even when there is progress, if it does, it is not sustainable. So, for example, compared to the European Union average of 66 points, in the Western Balkans it is much lower – only 38 points and below the global average of 43 points.

VOA: The ranking is based on the perception of corruption in the public sector, such as misuse of public funds, corruption and state capture. What are the biggest problems for Albania?

Lidija Prokic: Look, Albania has shown progress in the first place in the vetting of the judiciary, where this process, despite the difficulties, has started to give some results and we must appreciate these efforts. Here, the work of the special prosecutors of organized crime and corruption, with cases investigated and tried, really deserves congratulations. So in this part there are improvements. However, for anti-corruption reforms to be more effective, they should not be implemented in isolation. Greater will is needed to invest in the field of democratic reforms. However, here, unfortunately, we are not seeing progress.

In this sense, it would be really important for Albania to accelerate democratic reforms, because what we have learned, referring to the world and the corruption perception index, is that the latter is much better controlled in countries with institutions strong democracies and in states with a strong rule of law. I think this constitutes an important lesson for Albania and other Western Balkan countries, especially in the context of European integration.

Voice of America : As Transparency International reports have shown for years, corruption is a big problem in Albania. Do you think the government has undertaken enough reforms to combat this phenomenon?

Lidija Prokic: This is not an easy question, but it is very clear that other countries in the Western Balkans are not doing enough to fight corruption. And when they make efforts in this direction, they fall behind in other areas. Meanwhile, some significant and disturbing signs of the weakening of democracy are being seen. Thus, the general climate in society and strong institutions play a major role in countries' ability to control corruption. While there are some reforms focused specifically on the fight against corruption, we are still not seeing enough progress in building strong institutions that should hold decision makers accountable and effectively deal with corruption-based crimes.

VOA: Do you think there is enough political and judicial will to fight corruption?

Lidija Prokic: I don't think there is enough will because, as I said, there would be enough will if we saw coherence over the years and if the reforms were not focused only on a few specific measures. These efforts must permeate all spheres of government. Here, in the first place, I have to emphasize that the most important part is the guarantee of the basic principles of democracy on the separation of powers. And here the work done is not enough. Government authorities in Albania and the rest of the region still have much more power and dominant influence on the activities of all other institutions, including independent ones, whose primary role is actually to oversee the executive, i.e. the government.

Voice of America: Do you think that extreme political polarization is affecting the fight against corruption in Albania?

Lidija Prokic: I believe that it affects the fight against corruption, creating political instability and the success of the reforms being undertaken. It is also important to mobilize public support, so that citizens can trust the institutions; because the increase in polarization and any kind of polarization actually shows that important parts of society do not trust the institutions and this is something that must change. However, I want to emphasize that the key to these reforms lies with governments.

It is the latter who are really in charge of implementing these reforms. Likewise, governments have the duty to educate the public about the reforms, their importance, content and what those reforms bring to the citizens. As long as governments focus on the interests of their own party, on groups with economic interests close to those in power, and the public interest is not the overriding priority, then we can no longer expect significant progress. / VOA


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