At the seventh national Conference on the Right to Information, the transparency of Albanian institutions was presented as a matter of perception.
Prime Minister Edi Rama described the debate as a clash between those who see "the glass is full" and to those who see "the empty glass". The media and civil society positioned themselves in the latter.
The Prime Minister's optimistic statements were carried out in parallel with strong judicial actions.
The Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) issued eight security measures following suspicions of tender abuses at the National Agency for the Information Society (AKSHI). Also today, the Parliament was asked to lift the immunity of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku.
Issues involving government corruption have been among the most difficult to obtain information or comment from the media.
Repeated complaints about accountability
Journalists and civil society representatives listed similar problems. Institutions delay, provide partial information, or do not respond to requests, while the law obliges public authorities to provide information within 10 official working days.
The Commissioner for the Right to Information (KDI), Besnik Dervishi, stressed that the frequent change of information coordinators creates ambiguity in responsibilities. According to him, this weakens the transparency mechanism within institutions.
Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, Adea Pirdeni, responded by saying that the government is working on a new form of transparency.
For this, she introduced the “Transparent Albania” platform. Pirdeni was described as a system that standardizes decisions and allows online tracking of requests. But this was met with skepticism by media representatives.
Kristina Voko from the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) recalled that similar promises have been made almost every year. According to her, the roundtables are repeated, but the situation remains unchanged. For this, she demanded concrete action plans.
"What are the concrete action plans to make the promises made a year ago a reality?""Voko asked the question.
Klodiana Kapo from "Faktoje" said that her editorial office sent 183 requests during 2025. Forty-two ended up as complaints to the KDI. She emphasized that delays make the news worthless.
"News is like bread, after more than five days it becomes moldy and is no longer edible" Kapo emphasized, recalling once again the penalty that comes from not receiving a timely response.
Eglantina Bardhi from "Together for Life" confirmed the same experience. She said that over half of their letters turn into complaints, even for basic information and not sensitive information.
"Experience shows that the mechanism does not work," Bardhi emphasized.
Diplomatic representatives at the table brought European examples. Swiss Ambassador Ruth Huber emphasized standardization, accessibility, and proactive publication of data.
According to her, the information should be published automatically, making the complaint unnecessary.
Blerjana Bino from the Science and Innovation Center for Development (SCiDEV) pointed out the gap between digitalization and accountability as an essential element in a democratic system.
Bino concludes that at this point, technology in Albania has not brought about a real increase in transparency.
"Achievements" according to the government and critical reports
Prime Minister Edi Rama acknowledged the criticism, but brushed it aside as he continued to emphasize progress compared to the past.
He referred to the SIGMA assessments – a European Union-supported initiative for public governance and state administration management – where Albania scores high institutionally.
"Albania has a functional architecture for transparency, where the result according to 'SIGMA' is 8.6 out of 10 in the strategic and institutional framework and 7 out of 9 for the functionality and authority of the right to information," Rama said.
The Prime Minister also mentioned a European transparency index, according to which Albania has increased by 5% this year. Based on this, he considered the country above the regional average in terms of public information.
However, other EU reports show a worsening situation. The Progress Report highlights pressures on the media, a lack of transparency in ownership and funding, and self-censorship.
According to the EU, public consultation and government transparency remain weak. This undermines public trust and the democratic standards required for European integration.
Thus, the debate on transparency in Albania continues to develop on two parallel levels.
On one side stands the government, based on indices, reports that prove "progress". On the other hand, there are journalists and civil society, who face a different reality on the ground: delays, partial responses, and mechanisms that only function after the Commissioner's intervention.
The gap between these two realities is not perception, but concrete experience.
An internationally recognized legal framework does not replace the institutional obligation to respond to the media without filters and without delay. When indices are used to relativize criticism, they turn from assessment tools into protective instruments of power.
If digitalization and new platforms remain promises, the problem is not the lack of technology, but the culture of closed institutions.
Until transparency is implemented as a daily practice and not as an annual statistic, media freedom will continue to remain under pressure.
In this reality, "glasses" It is neither full nor empty. It is controlled. And it is precisely this control that constitutes the most serious challenge to democracy and the right of citizens to be informed.
He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
