The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held a hearing on December 9 with experts from media organizations and representatives of the Council of Europe regarding the media situation in Albania.

At this hearing, DP MP Albana Vokshi, a member of this committee, spoke on behalf of the opposition in Albania. In her speech, Vokshi raised concerns about the deep and systemic deterioration of media freedom, which she said is incompatible with European democratic standards.

Below is the full word 

Madam Speaker, esteemed colleagues,

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of expression and recognizes the essential role of free and independent media as a cornerstone of a democratic society. Silencing the media through self-censorship, threats, smear campaigns, digital harassment, physical attacks against journalists and the forced closure of critical television stations – all with almost complete impunity – is a hallmark of authoritarian-leaning regimes.

This is the reality in Albania, the government's all-encompassing control over the media and the systematic erosion of its freedom.

It is enough to read the ODIHR reports on the parliamentary elections, the European Commission's Progress Report, the reports of Reporters Without Borders and other reports...

It is enough to listen to the reports of the experts invited to the commission... the media in Albania is in deep decline...

The media freedom index has been continuously declining.

Defamation remains criminalized in the Criminal Code, despite long-standing recommendations from the Venice Commission, ODIHR, and the European Commission.

Closing down critical media: If the editorial line of a media outlet is critical of the Government – ​​that media outlet is closed. Three television channels have been closed in recent years. For only one of them, the Arbitration Court has issued a final decision, forcing the Albanian government to compensate this TV with 110 million euros for the closure of Agon Channel. And we will probably have to pay millions more EURO for the closure of other media outlets.

The recent events of the closure of third-party media in recent years are worrying. In August, police forces surrounded the headquarters of Focus Media Group (News24, BalkanWeb, Panorama and Gazeta Shqiptare), cut off electricity and barred the entry of around 200 journalists. Armed forces seized computers and investigative materials, putting journalists and their sources at serious risk.

This follows the earlier forced closures of Agon Channel and Ora News—part of a disturbing pattern of administrative and coercive pressure to silence criticism.

The European Commission’s Progress Report states: “Concerns have been raised about the legality and respect for due process regarding the authorities’ actions to prevent journalists from four media outlets from entering the premises they were using. In August 2025, a first-instance court found that the restrictive measures against journalists during the eviction of a media consortium from state-owned premises were disproportionate and in breach of constitutional obligations and Article 10 of the ECHR on freedom of expression. The court did not enter into the merits of the ownership issue, but ordered the return of the equipment and documents to the journalists.”

These developments confirm what international institutions have repeatedly warned about: the systematic disregard for democratic standards.

Both the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission and the European Commission's 2024–2025 Progress Report reach a similar and alarming assessment of the media environment in Albania, describing it as: very limited, characterized by concentration of media ownership, unclear financing, political influence and interference in editorial autonomy, widespread self-censorship, and the dominance of media outlets close to the ruling party.

According to the European University Institute's Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, the four main owners in the audiovisual market control 72% of revenues and 87% of the audience. The only television channel perceived to be close to the DP, Syri TV, in 2023 'accounted for only 1.7% of the total television market revenues'.

All of the above undermine media pluralism and deprive citizens of independent and diverse information during the elections. ODIHR highlights the lack of independence of the public broadcaster RTSH and the regulator AMA, the centralization of government information through the Information and Media Agency, as well as the continuation of criminal defamation provisions, considering this framework incompatible with democratic standards.

The European Commission finds that Albania has made limited progress and has not implemented any of the key recommendations on media freedom, highlighting: continued intimidation and SLAPP cases against journalists; (many journalists face legal proceedings and investigations, while one journalist has been searched, detained and had his equipment seized).

Taken together, the two reports emphasize: the media environment in Albania remains structurally vulnerable to political control and far from European democratic standards.

Violation of European and International Standards

It is now clear that the media environment in Albania is structurally captured—politically, economically, and institutionally.

This situation is incompatible with:

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights;

OSCE Copenhagen Document;

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on freedom of expression;

Council of Europe standards and Venice Commission principles;

and OSCE commitments to democratic elections, which require equal access to the media and impartial information for voters.

Therefore, I call on the Monitoring Committee to keep the media situation in Albania under rigorous observation. I also ask it to insist that Albania fully and in good faith implement the long-standing recommendations of the ODIHR, the Venice Commission, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

Media freedom is not optional. It is the foundation on which all democratic institutions stand.