Speech of Ambassador Luigi Soreca during the public discussion on “Safety and protection of journalists: sharing standards and addressing common challenges”

16.12.2021
Tirana, Albania

Dear representatives of States Institutions, Dear Jutta, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is an honour to participate in this discussion forum in the presence of so many Albania institutions and media actors. 

It is also a particular privilege and emotion to have with us present today Mr Matthew Caruana Galizia. I would like to pay tribute to the memory of his [your] mother, Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose assassination has been a shock to Europe as a whole. Her work and her engagement will remain an inspiration for many journalists and active citizens. Sadly, her assassination has reminded us that, even in Europe, there are journalists who are risking their life to inform people, to scrutinise the action of the governments, or to report on crimes. 

This cannot happen. No journalist should die or be harmed for doing their job. Journalists must feel safe to work. Because without freedom of the media, there are simply no free and democratic societies.  

Precisely because it is one the pillar of democracy, freedom of expression and media freedom is an important focus of the EU’s engagement with EU candidate countries such as Albania. 

It is a key benchmark against which the EU assesses candidate countries’ progress towards EU membership. Candidate countries must demonstrate in a credible way that they are implementing fundamental reforms, and this includes media freedom. 

In the case of Albania, this area will become even more central once accession talks between the EU and Albania start [and I am confident that they will soon start!].  

Indeed, fundamental reforms are addressed from the very beginning until the end of the negotiations – and the overall pace of negotiations is determined by progress achieved on these reforms.  

 In this context, media freedom is a key priority for the EU. The European Commission’s 2021 Annual report on Albania has raised a number of concerns as regards freedom of expression and media freedom in the country.  

The report notes that the atmosphere of verbal attacks, smear campaigns and acts of intimidation against journalists is still there. It also notes that during the last year, none of the reported attacks against journalists resulted in a final conviction.  

This needs to change. There must be a policy of zero tolerance for intimidation and attacks against journalists (including online violence), and, even more importantly, no complacency, this means that all criminal acts must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted.  

Other key issues on which the EU is asking for progress include the need to ensure the independence and legitimacy of the media regulator, as well as to strengthen the public service broadcaster’s independence, professional standards and financial sustainability.  

The influence of politics and business over the media remains another key source of concern. More efforts are needed to ensure that legal requirements for transparency of media ownership & financing are aligned with international standards. 

Moreover, self-regulation in online media needs to be ensured. Both  parliament and government have confirmed to us that there is no intention to pursue with the discussion and adoption of the so-called draft media law. Should there be any change in their position in the future, we expect the parliament and the government to uphold their commitment to ensure that any possible changes to this draft law would be in line with the Venice Commission Opinion and submitted to proper consultations. 

All of these improvements to the media environment are necessary to enhance media freedom and also avoid self-censorship – which is certainly one of the most insidious and pervading form of attack on media freedom. 

More needs to be done to protect journalists and to ensure freedom of expression and of the media more widely. And this requires action from, and cooperation between several institutions, including the government, parliament, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, and of course independent institutions  

The EU will continue to support Albania in this process. The EU’s action in support of freedom of expression and media in Albania is fully based on international and European standards, including the European Convention on Human Rights.  

Our partnership with the Council of Europe on this issue is central. The project that brings us here together today – JUFREX – is a joint endeavour..  

Let me highlight some of the achievements of the project: 

We supported the Alliance for Ethical Media – which aims at promoting ethical standards in journalism, through self-regulation mechanism especially in online media;  

We supported the establishment of No Hate Alliance task force, which brings together key institutions as part of a joined effort to promote diversity and to fight hate speech in Albania; 

finally, the project organised a number of training of trainers activities to enhance Albanian legal professionals’ understanding – and therefore application – of European standards on media freedom, including European Court on Human Rights case-law. 

This project is an important contribution to support media freedom, but it cannot replace the strong political and effective collaboration between the competent institutions  and  the mobilisation of media actors and of the broader society.  

In this regard, the work of civil society organisations such as Res Publica [who is co-organising this event], the collaboration with the University of Tirana, training of journalists and students, the works of journalists' associations and self-regulation, media literacy, investigative production, and media dialogue – are all essential elements to promote a public debate and promote media freedom in the country. 

Today’s event is very much part of this crucial process.  Thank you very much.