Latest from albania

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May of this year was undoubtedly the month of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose mandate was reconfirmed with a convincing victory for the Socialist Party in the parliamentary elections of May 11. And not only that—Albania also successfully hosted the summit of the European Political Community, during which it received strong support for its path toward European Union membership. In fact, this support exceeded all expectations. While projections have pointed to Albania joining the EU by 2030, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that membership could come as early as 2027.

Elbasan Prosecution Office has sought “Remand in Custody” for five individuals, including three Italian nationals, and “ House Arrest” for a suspected woman, as part of an investigation into a scheme involving commercial companies set up to avoid tax obligations. The individuals are suspected of committing several criminal offenses, such as failure to pay taxes and tariffs, provoked bankruptcy, fraud, abuse of power, and concealment of income, as stipulated in Articles 181, 193, 143, 164, and 180 of the Albanian Criminal Code.

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On 27 May, Europol coordinated a Referral Action Day (RAD) on minors’ exploitation and radicalisation online. More than 2 000 links pointing to jihadist and right-wing violent extremist and terrorist propaganda targeting minors were referred during the action day.

Tirana Prosecution Office has concluded the investigation and brought to trial thirteen people, including ten inspectors and officials from environmental institutions, for the criminal offense of “Abuse of Office” for allowing violations in environmental protection and the handling of hazardous hospital waste.Regarding criminal case no. 1255/2024—initiated following a report by investigative journalist S.K.—authorities carried out an intensified investigation, reviewing official documentation, gathering statements, conducting on-site inspections, and collecting both material and photographic evidence.The investigation revealed a broad scheme of document forgery and abuse of office, involving coordinated actions between private entities and public officials. As a result, authorities charged the following individuals with the criminal offense of document forgery, pursuant to Article 186/3 of the Criminal Code:•    E.M., administrator of “V.R. “Ltd”•    E.Sh., administrator of “E.. “Ltd”•    L.Sh.,  administrator of “S.... “Ltd”These persons stand accused of providing false declarations regarding technological equipment for waste sterilization, used to secure public contracts and environmental permits despite lacking the necessary capabilities.Moreover, ten inspectors and officials from environmental institutions—J.Sh., E.P., A.M., N.D., T.P., B.S., A.K., B.L., I.B., and K.A.—have been indicted for the criminal offense of abuse of office (Article 248 of the Criminal Code).They are suspected of performing merely formal inspections, accepting falsified documentation, and failing to verify the actual conditions of the installations on site. Data analysis indicates that, during 2017–2022, the entity “V. R.” was awarded over 30 public contracts by employing inaccurate and insufficient equipment, inconsistent with the operational requirements, thereby violating the legal criteria for environmental permits of types A and B. This investigation unveiled significant deficiencies in the enforcement of environmental standards, the absence of effective supervisory controls, and questionable collaboration between private interests and regulatory authorities.All people involved are presumed innocent until a final judgment is rendered by the competent court.

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