The most vocal media freedom organizations – SafeJournalists Network (SJN), partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – together with 14 civil society and media organizations from Albania, have sent an open letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Niko Pelesh.
The letter warns that eliminating independent filming and limiting journalists' contact with MPs to a controlled space would be a dangerous step backwards for transparency and public accountability.
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We, the SafeJournalists network, together with partners Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and media freedom organizations in Albania, initiated and sent an open letter to the Speaker of the Parliament of Albania, Niko Peleshi.
In the letter, we express serious concerns about the parliamentary majority’s proposals to restrict journalists’ access to Parliament. The reported changes include removing independent filming in the plenary hall, replacing it with a single official broadcast, as well as limiting media interactions with MPs to a designated “doorstep” area.
We urge that such restrictions would reduce accountability, deprive citizens of independent access to information, and constitute a major setback for press freedom. We emphasize that Parliament remains one of the few spaces where journalists can directly ask questions of political representatives, as government officials and majority MPs rarely hold press conferences or participate in independent debates.
