The Summit for Democracy is a virtual event convening the leaders of more than 100 countries around the world, including Albania
The Summit for Democracy is hosted by the United States President Joe Biden and it brought together world leaders, civil society and the private sector and the event’s goal is are to strengthen democracy, defend against authoritarianism, address corruption and promote human rights.
Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the Summit saying:
Dear President Biden, distinguished participants,
It is of course a special honour and a privilege to represent Albania in this forum of democracies of the world. It took my country a quite long time and a winding journey from total isolation to being part of the community of democracies. But here we are today, still a very young democracy, yet a proud member of the UN and NATO, OSCE and the Council of Europe, a candidate member for European Union, a strategic partner of the United States and some of the most consolidated democracies in the world, and a coming non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
In this journey, friendship and the support of the United States of America has been vital for the advancement of democratic aspirations, strengthening the rule of law and resiliency of our institutions.
Four years ago, Albanian government launched one of the deepest and most comprehensive reforms compared to all post-Communist countries, namely the judiciary reform. In this process and in close cooperation with the United States, the European Union and the EU Member States, we are cleaning the judiciary system from over 70 percent of its judges and prosecutors and we are now in the process of rebuilding the judiciary institutions after the model of consolidated democracies.
We are fully committed to ensure the successful continuation of the justice system reform so that a new system of justice, impartial and independent from the executive and legislative power, becomes fully operational and serves the people.
At the same time, we are committed to combat corruption and organized crime at all levels. Building on the existing successes in the area of digitalization of public services, we are investing in e-services with a view to close loopholes still vulnerable to corruption and ensure good governance and transparency for all government processes.
In order to engage citizens in our reforms, we are launching the Open Government Partnership as a multi-stakeholder forum, which will ensure meaningful public dialogue with all sectors of society.
But we are fully aware that despite our successes, our recent history has shown that the reforms are not irreversible. They must be supported by the daily efforts of a plethora of actors and an enhanced engagement with Euro-Atlantic structures and institutions.
It is for this reason that the EU accession negotiations would help consolidating democratic institutions, protection of fundamental rights and advancement of the rule of law.
Finally, in the same way as democracy needs democrats, sustainable peace needs strong democracies. It is only through international and regional cooperation that we can counter a conflict and we can bring about peace.
Albania’s strong multilateralism was demonstrated during the COVID crisis and, most recently, during the Afghan crisis, when we stepped forward and decided to host thousands of evacuees. By doing thus, we honoured our pledge as a NATO Ally and as a force for good among the nations.
As Albania takes over the non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2022-2023, we count on your support and commitment to multilateralism to make the UN work better and to find practical yet sustainable solutions for peace.
Thank you!
