In an exclusive interview with Deutsche Welle, Ambassador Silvio Gonzato praises the work of SPAK, one of the justice institutions in which the European Union has invested the most in Albania.
DW: I want to ask you about the justice reform in Albania, which is one of the biggest investments of the European Union. What do you think about the current work of SPAK?
Ambassador Gonzato: I think that SPAK is doing a very, very important job. If you talk to the member states, you will see that they extremely appreciate the work done by SPAK, for example, in the fight against organized crime, in dismantling criminal gangs that operate not only in Albania, but also in the EU and, in particular, in some member states of the European Union.
They greatly appreciate the work that SPAK is doing in cooperation with their law enforcement agencies, as well as with EUROPOL and EUROJUST in tracking these gangs, in tracking their activities and in the fight against organized crime. Because this is becoming a growing concern in EU member states. The role that Albanian networks play, for example, in international drug trafficking also has an impact on the security of some cities in Northern Europe. Therefore, this is greatly appreciated.
Secondly, the fight against organized crime and corruption is one of the key elements for assessing Albania's readiness to join the European Union. This is at the core of the fundamental process that I mentioned earlier. So, we see SPAK as an institution that plays a fundamental role in this regard, in the fight against corruption, in the fight against impunity at the political level, and we see no obstacle to summoning and investigating high-ranking politicians. I think this is an important element for assessing Albania's readiness. It is something that we appreciate and support. So, the assessment is undoubtedly positive.
We believe that more needs to be done on the preventive side in the fight against corruption and organized crime. This is why, for example, within the framework of the “Foundations”, one of the measures that was recently adopted by Albania, as part of this initial step in the accession process, was the criminalization of money laundering. This will also be an important way to financially undermine some of the illegal activities that these networks carry out. So, we expect the government to adopt not only a strategy for the prevention of corruption, but also to implement concrete measures in this direction.
DW: Mr. Berisha, the opposition leader, has repeatedly attacked SPAK for its work and now this effort by the Albanian government. Do you think Mr. Berisha and Mr. Rama are trying to undermine SPAK's work?
Ambassador Gonzato: I will not speculate on this. What is certain is that we have repeatedly expressed in our annual reports our concern about attacks against the judiciary. We have said that, in fact, the judiciary and the judicial system have become more resilient to these attacks, also because it is an independent system. But, nevertheless, we think that these attacks by politicians and political interference are something that we see with concern. It is something that should not continue.
