At the meeting of the legal commission of the Council of Europe KOLUMBEREG: We have sought appropriate solutions to the NANO issue - guarantees for an independent judiciary, a modern constitution. - On 6 November, a governing referendum. According to the French news agency AFP: A. Kristidi According to the Athens news agency “ANA” and the Albanian ones, it was stated, among other things, that “if the choice of the country for the Council of Europe has not yet been determined, Albania has the possibility of becoming a member of it”. “With a strong desire to help Albania free itself from the burdens of the past, the Council of Europe has every reason to encourage it, but its recommendation will not be given without reservations,” said yesterday the rapporteur on Albanian affairs to the parliamentary assembly, the French deputy Denis Barduer. Speaking before the deputies of the legal commission of the Council of Europe assembly, he suggested that “the postponement by one week, until 22 June, of the vote on Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe should prompt the Albanian government to clarify a number of problems”. Denis Barduer mentioned “the NANO issue, the printed media and the recent sentencing of socialist opposition leaders”. “We gladly support Albania’s de facto admission, but we have hesitations regarding the government’s wishes to oppose some of our criteria, especially with regard to respect for human rights,” he said. “Albania is not benefiting from the progress made by other countries that are already members of the Council of Europe,” he stated. Denis Barduer declared that “patience should not be lost with Albania, but this cannot exempt it from meeting democratic standards”. Next, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the Austrian Franci Vejergang, spoke, saying that “Albania has made progress in a number of areas, but still not enough”. He called for improvements in the functioning of justice, press freedom, and the treatment of the opposition. According to him, “the NANO issue has acquired symbolic importance”. Likewise, the other rapporteur on Albanian affairs, the Italian deputy Fernando Adornato, stressed the need for “a modern constitution that clearly guarantees the separation of powers, the independence of the courts and the rights of the opposition”. He added that the referendum announced for 6 November could be “an important step” if it is conducted democratically and transparently. “I will not become specifically involved in Mr. NANO’s case, but it is clear that this issue has a direct impact on Albania’s assessment,” said one of the members of the commission. At the end of the debate, it was emphasized that Tirana must give more convincing signals regarding respect for the standards of the Council of Europe. AFP

Paradoxes of privatization Keeping a thousand eyes on the government is not enough if some other institutions charged with oversight are not functioning properly. The whole country is talking about corruption, but there are few cases in which it is truly tackled. Today this question is raised not only as a moral debate, but as a matter of institutional order. In this climate, privatization is revealing its own paradoxes. On the one hand, the government speaks of reforms and a market economy; on the other, citizens suspect that property is moving from state hands into hands linked to power. When transparency is lacking, suspicion becomes the norm. The president’s role in this process appears vague. Does he have the power to intervene? Does corruption prevent the state from functioning all the way to its top? Or is his name being used to justify other decisions? This is precisely where the question raised by this piece begins. Corruption is not just bribery. It is a network of influence, silence, favoritism and breaches of the law that weaken public trust. If the president remains silent, that silence is interpreted; if he speaks, action is expected. Citizens are asking for clear signs. Therefore, the problem is not only about one person. It is linked to the way privatization is being carried out, to the lack of parliamentary oversight, to the weakness of the justice system, and to the fact that the public is only partially informed. Democracy cannot be built on fog.

Observation from Gjirokastra In the tense political climate of the years of transition, there has often been the temptation to replace free debate with control of thought. This is an old reflex, but every time it returns, it brings the same consequences: fear, self-censorship and the impoverishment of public life. From Gjirokastra come signals that certain forms of moral and political pressure are being presented as concern for order, while in fact they aim to limit free expression. When the state or structures linked to it try to act as an “ideas police,” they fail twice: both because they violate freedom and because they do not manage to persuade. A democratic society needs rules, but not the uniforming of conscience. Ideas are not investigated like misdemeanors, nor punished like administrative violations. Any attempt to control them produces only backlash and mistrust. This is why the model of an “ideas police” is doomed from the outset. It does not bring order, but tension; not safety, but fear. In the end, it weakens the very institutions that claim to use it.

1. Do you want a donkey, bring the order?[?] 2. Zeqelino in Kosovo Brief notes on how the internal campaign in the Democratic Party is developing. In some areas conflicts are reported, in others organizational improvisations and clashes over local influence. The author uses irony to describe the language and practices being used in this process.

Two weeks ago, on the “...” program on TVSH, a segment was broadcast that provoked many reactions. The main criticism concerned the way public figures were treated and the lack of professional ethics. Public television has a special responsibility toward the audience. It cannot rely on sensationalism, nor on belittling a political opponent. When the balance of language and respect is lost, the function of informing is also lost. The debate about the media is not a secondary debate. In a society seeking to build democratic institutions, the way television speaks has a direct effect on citizens. The shame lies not only in a single program, but in the standard that is accepted as normal.

Writing from Durrës The value of a document in a citizen’s life is irreplaceable. But when bureaucracy renders it unusable, the document loses not only its practical function, but also public credibility. In Durrës, cases have increased in which citizens are asked for new papers for documents that until yesterday were considered valid. This creates queues, wasted time and the feeling that the administration works against people rather than for them. A modern state cannot tire the citizen with stamp after stamp. Every unjustly devalued paper is a sign of administrative incompetence. Worse still, it feeds the conviction that only private intervention can solve public matters.