This morning, guest on "Time to Wake Up" was pension expert Kujtim Hoxha, who focused on the pension agreement between Albania and Italy and the problems that have arisen in its implementation in practice.

A problem identified, according to Hoxha, is the fact that it is not foreseen that Italian legislation is different from Albanian legislation regarding early retirement, leading to concrete cases where Albanian citizens have been left without early retirement even though they meet the conditions in the Italian state and only need a verification from Albania regarding the years of work they have had in our country.

"There have been significant problems regarding the fate of citizens. In my office alone last week, I had 5 cases of Albanians living in Italy who met the conditions for early retirement.

The Albanian government must respond to the requests of its citizens, because they have 2 insurance periods, several years in Albania for which they have documentation for work performed here, and the rest confirmed in Italy, in the country where they have residence and live.

Once they have completed 42 years of work in both countries, they are entitled to early retirement regardless of age.
"Italy requires confirmation of employment in Albania, but employees here claim that they must reach retirement age before applying. This prevents them from retiring early. The administration must respond in a timely manner and not become an obstacle," he said.