Regional Conference “Anti-Corruption” held in Tirana

Published: Tuesday, 23 September 2014 14:28

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It was held today, in the Ministry of Defence, the Regional Conference “Anti-corruption”, organized by the European Centre for Security Studies “George C. Marshall”. In this conference attended the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama, Minister of Defence, Mrs. Mimi Kodheli, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Jeronim Bazo, US Ambassador to Albania, Mr. Alexander Arvizu, Ambassador of Germany, Mr. Helmut Hoffman, and many other guests.

Defence Minister Mimi Kodheli in her address said: “Today’s conference addresses an overly subtle and challenging topic for any society. In Albania, over the years, this phenomenon has reached alarming levels, reducing citizens’ confidence in the state institutions and becoming a major obstacle to the welfare and development of our society. In a year of governance, we have shown that we are open, we have the will and we are determined to continue efforts and reforms to address this situation.”

Later in her address, Mrs. Kodheli underlined that the fight against corruption has been the subject of all the first meetings as Minister of Defence with counterparts, dignitaries and senior officials of the partner countries and allies. For the Minister of Defence, results in the fight against corruption long speak for themselves, however, she assured that this fight will continue and the time of the untouchables has gone once and for all. Based on the main objectives of the Government’s Action Plan for the fight against corruption, the Ministry of Defence has established the anti-corruption unit, within the General Directorate of Inspection and Anti-Corruption in the Ministry of Defence. “I’m sure that at a subtle time for the security in the Euro-Atlantic area, efficient use of Defence resources carries a great significance”, said Ms. Kodheli.

The Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama said: “Without any doubt, justice reform is the modernization reform that will take time to show concrete results to the ordinary citizen who will have to knock on the doors of justice. While the approach in time of the results, is directly related to the punishment of all those people of justice, who use the judge’s hammer to infringe the freedom and rights of helpless people.”

According to the Prime Minister, courts in Albania have become the tool to amnesty the powerful people and punish the helpless, while the opposite should be true. Mr. Rama added that, his government will lead this reform through the parliamentary majority, taking all the right decisions to overcome as soon as possible the huge gap that separates us from the countries where justice has a meaning, and to leave as soon as possible the situation where justice has lost its meaning as a word.

The US Ambassador, Mr. Alexander Arvizu stressed that, corruption has become a threat to the region. He added that the fight against this phenomenon requires commitment. According to Ambassador Arvizu, corruption threatens the Albania’s security. “The fight against corruption requires commitment. Laws and reform must be well considered and consulted with the interest groups.”

While the German ambassador in Tirana, Mr. Helmut Hoffman said that, the government and politics admit that there is corruption in Albania, but until now no senior official is released from duty. “The fight against corruption cannot succeed just talking all the time about it”.