OSCE Presence’s Contribution to Help Police Officers to Be Engaged with Albania Election Duties

The OSCE Presence provided today to the Albanian State Police with 5,500 of a booklet that will help police officers who will be engaged with election duties, said a press release issued by the press department of this organization in Tirana on Friday.
“The election booklet – prepared and printed by the Presence – contains instructions of the CEC on the role of police during electoral processes; the role police during rallies; their role on safeguarding the venues assigned for election related purposes such as voting centres and counting centres, as well as safeguarding of election materials. It also contains articles of the Criminal Code on criminal offences related to elections,” it said.
Addressing the event organized at the Albanian State Police headquarters, which was attended by General Director of State Police Ardi Veliu and other State Police high officials, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco said that the Presence and the Police have a common goal: elections organized at the highest democratic standards. “You represent a fundamental bulwark for the values of democracy, the first line of defence of democratic values that elections are based on. Through your work, you will make sure that people will have a voice and will make the voice heard,” said Del Monaco. He also urged police officer to cast their vote, and to continue relying on the OSCE Presence.
In the run-up to the 25 April general elections, the Presence, in close partnership with the Albanian State Police and with the support of the Central Election Commission and the General Prosecutor’s Office, organized a series of training courses for over 6,000 police officer across Albania on the role of the police in the electoral process. In addition, about 700 police officers from the Criminal Police Department received training on their specific tasks related to electoral crimes and their investigation. Fourteen spokespersons from all regional police directorates received training as well.
Albania will hold general elections on April 25 this year against a background of the ongoing deadly pandemic and a tense political situation which has been complicated by the latest Rinas International Airport event which PM Edi Rama claimed it was a failed coup d’etat something denied by those accused as President Ilir Meta and opposition leadership.
Internationals have not made any comment on that event due to which Turkish and Greek air traffic controllers came to Rinas to unblock the deadlock. /argumentum.al