Albania

The Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama won a fourth consecutive term in the parliamentary election of 11 May 2025, taking 83 of 140 seats against 50 for the Democratic Party-led coalition, on an overall turnout of 44.8 per cent, including voting abroad. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded that contestants did not enjoy a level playing field. The Assembly approved Rama’s fourth government on 18 September 2025 by 82 votes.

Investigations by the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) have reached senior officials. The mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, was arrested on 10 February 2025. Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku was suspended by the Special Court in November 2025 in a tender investigation and dismissed in a reshuffle on 26 February 2026; on 12 March the Assembly rejected, by 82 votes to 47, SPAK’s request for authorisation to arrest her. Protests against a proposed luxury resort near Zvërnec began on 30 May 2026 and developed into the largest monthly wave of demonstrations recorded by ACLED in Albania since it began monitoring the country in 2018.

Albania opened the last of its negotiating clusters with the European Union on 17 November 2025 and provisionally closed its first three chapters on 14 July 2026. The government aims to conclude negotiations by the end of 2027.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Albania 83rd of 180 in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index with a score of 56.52, against 80th and 58.18 in 2025. It notes that ownership of much of the media is concentrated in the hands of four or five companies and that the opaque and discriminatory distribution of state funding raises suspicions of influence peddling. The European Commission’s 2026 rule of law chapter on Albania describes media concentration and market penetration by business groups with political links as issues of serious concern, and notes persistent concerns over the independence of the media regulator, the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA).

In January 2026 the Assembly adopted amendments requiring audiovisual media to disclose their owners, beneficial owners and the state advertising they receive. It also amended the Criminal Code, removing criminal liability for defamation only for journalists who are registered and recognised, although Albania has no formal system for registering journalists.

The government blocked TikTok from March 2025 until February 2026, and on 11 March 2026 the Constitutional Court found that the ban had violated freedom of expression and press freedom. ODIHR reported that editorial news coverage is often replaced by material prepared by government bodies, and that the Media and Information Agency under the Prime Minister’s Office centralises and filters government information.

State Media Monitor maps two Albanian outlets: Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH), classified Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu) since the 2023 review cycle after Independent State Managed/Owned (ISM) in 2022, and the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), classified State-Controlled (SC) in every review cycle since 2022.

RTSH’s Director General is elected by a Steering Council whose members are elected by the Assembly. The Assembly dismissed the entire Council on 17 February 2025, in breach of applicable legislation according to the European Commission; a new Council elected Eni Vasili as Director General on 25 April 2025. RTSH is financed by a licence fee of ALL 1,200 a year, unchanged since 2011, state budget funding of ALL 890 million in 2026 and its own revenue. On 16 January 2026 Rama said that all options for RTSH, including final closure and privatisation, were open; he later said his position had been distorted. With support from the European Broadcasting Union, the Council approved a restructuring in April 2026, while the Commission’s 2026 rule of law chapter states that the limited independence of the public broadcaster remains an issue of concern.

ATA is listed among the subordinate institutions of the Prime Minister’s Office and still operates under a 1954 decree; its Director General is appointed by the Council of Ministers on the Prime Minister’s proposal. Its 2026 allocation is ALL 103.2 million. As the government moved institutions from the Prime Minister’s Office to ministries in 2026, ATA’s status was reported on 5 June 2026 to be still under evaluation.

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