TIRANA, October 13 – The Head of the EU Delegation to Tirana, Ambassador Christiane Hohmann handed over the 2022 European Union progress report for Albania to the Albanian government on Thursday.
The 2022 European Union progress report for Albania was presented by the Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi on Wednesday.The Ambassador, Hohmann emphasized the continuation of reforms in the country. Albania, sge.said, has made progress but will increasingly be monitored by the EU.”This year’s report is of special importance because it offers a special assessment and the right steps for the reforms that Albania should follow. Albania is part of the first league, but it means that you will be under more and more scrutinized monitoring and you will need a strong leadership,” she said.According to Brussels’ top envoy to Tirana, in general, the assessment of the report is that Albania has continued to focus on the continuation of reforms. “The report also points to recent changes in the EU and calls on the government to focus on advancing reforms together with the opposition.”One area of concern is freedom of speech, Hohmann said, adding stronger efforts to consolidate property rights should be made.
Albania is warned in the Progress report that initiatives for fiscal amnesty and so-called “golden passports” risk contradicting the norms of the European Union.”The EC suggested that the states put an end to the granting of citizenship in this type of form. Each state must decide for itself how it will proceed with this issue. As for the fiscal amnesty, we are continuing the talks,” said the Ambassador.In her response at the joint press conference the Deputy PM, Belinda Balluku said regarding the fiscal amnesty that the assessment in the report is hypothetical and announced it still remains a draft open for discussion with partners.
As for the golden passports, Balluku said, they have referred to the practices of other EU countries, which to this day have these programs under process, continue to apply them. /Argumentum.al
