ACQJ editorial office
The European Commission assesses that Albania has made only "little progress" in the field of freedom of expression. Commission Progress Report for 2025 underlines that long-standing problems of concentrated media ownership, lack of transparency and pressures on journalists continue to hamper media independence and public trust.
In its latest Progress Report, the European Commission describes the situation of freedom of expression in Albania as largely unchanged. The country remains “averagely prepared” in this area and, for the second year in a row, is assessed as having made only limited progress. What is striking is the contrast between promises of reform and the reality on the ground, where political and economic influence over the media remains profound.
The report shows that media independence and pluralism are still hampered by the combination of political and business interests, lack of transparency about funding sources and concentration of ownershipThis situation creates a media landscape where a few hands control many voices, while most journalists face economic and constant editorial pressureIn April 2024, the AMA began publishing on its website summarized information on the ownership structures and beneficial owners of licensed audiovisual media. However, the website does not indicate hidden interests or potential conflicts of interest of the owners and persons associated with them.
Blerjana Bino, Executive Director of SciDev and national partner of the SafeJournalists network, adds on these findings of the report that “The systemic problems of the media in Albania and the very strong connections between media owners, politics, hidden interests, economic power and in some cases even that of crime, create an environment where it becomes almost impossible to exercise the profession of journalist in the public interest and with editorial freedom. We often see that the media is used as an instrument to advance certain intertwined interests, but which are not in the public interest.”
A positive development was the launch of a structured dialogue between Albanian institutions and media stakeholders to discuss legal reforms in this area. However, the European Commission stresses that this process needs to lead to concrete results, including consultation with the Venice Commission, before any changes are adopted.
Meanwhile, incidents involving media workers that occurred during 2025 show that challenges remain serious. Cases of intimidation, public insults, smear campaigns, and strategic lawsuits against journalists (SLAPP) remained widespread. Media organizations recorded 45 cases of violations of journalists’ safety in 2024, while many attacks remain unpunished.
"We have 38 other cases of incidents with journalists for the period January - October 2025, and our data shows that there are a large number of cases this year, which have been reported to the police, also showing an awareness of the use of existing legal mechanisms to protect journalists," Bino continues.
She further adds that it remains worrying that the number of incidents still remains high and that in recent years the number of digital and cyber attacks, as well as coordinated campaigns against independent voices and media, has increased.
Efforts to establish contact points in the Police and the Ministry of Interior have been welcomed, but there is no concrete trace of criminal prosecution against the perpetrators of threats or violence, despite repeated denunciations by civil society organizations and the media itself.
At the same time, journalists in Albania continue to work in precarious and often unfair conditions. Job insecurity, lack of long-term contracts, and late payments have become commonplace, especially in local and online media. Media freedom organizations reported at least 13 formal complaints to the Labor Inspectorate between September 2024 and March 2025.
A very important point in the progress report was that of self-censorship, where excessive workload, political pressure and economic dependence have strengthened the phenomenon on a large scale among journalists.
"The working conditions and rights of journalists in the newsroom must be urgently addressed, as without addressing these basic needs, it is difficult to expect journalists as public watchdogs to be able to develop independent journalism in the public interest," concludes Bino.
On the institutional front, the Commission expresses concern about the independence of the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA), where political and economic influence continues to be evident in the selection of board members. Also at Radio Television Albania, the election of the general director and the dismissal of the Board of Directors by Parliament have been described as violations of legal and merit principles, which call into question the independence of the public television service.
The implementation of the right to information law also remains problematic. The Commissioner for the Right to Information received over 360 complaints from journalists about refusal of information in 2024, most of which were related to practices of delay or partial responses by public institutions. Although some of these cases were resolved at the administrative stage, the report highlights that the lack of clear standards for “public interest” remains a widely used justification for not providing information.
Despite the usual buzzword “limited development”, the recommendations of last year and the year before remain unimplemented: strengthening transparency of media ownership and financing, increasing the autonomy of regulators and the public broadcaster, and abolishing criminal provisions for defamation and guaranteeing fair working conditions for journalists. Media freedom in Albania still remains in a precarious position. /acqj.al
