Vulnerable journalists and restrictions on press freedom, at a table with the EU in Tirana

 Flutura Kusari while on interviewed by VOA in Albanian

 In Tirana, representatives of journalists discussed today at a roundtable with European Union diplomats the risks and pressures in their work.

Journalists claimed that they are unprotected during their activity and that numerous restrictions by the authorities encourage self-censorship.

The European Commission stated in its annual report that verbal attacks, defamation campaigns, and threats against journalists still exist in Albania.

The Res Publica Center organized today, together with the Council of Europe and the European Union, a public discussion on the safety and protection of Albanian journalists.

The roundtable was attended by journalists, judges, diplomats and representatives of civil society organizations, to discuss the main challenges in efforts to protect Albanian journalists in their work.

The representative of the European Center for Media and Press Freedom, based in Leipzig, Germany, Flutura Kusari, says that the situation of journalists in Albania is really bad and one of the worst in Europe.

"The reason why we keep repeating that the situation is bad is that there is no political will to improve the situation of journalists. We are talking in a country like Albania, where journalists are not free to report. Most journalists, with a few exceptions, do not have the right to decide what is in the public interest and what is not. So they have self-censorship because of the conditions in which they live. Journalists not only do not have contracts but also those who do, do not have access to those contracts. They are paid in cash, have no access to information, and have an airtight closure of institutions. In meetings like today, we document what is happening, but as long as there is no political will from the Socialist Party in this case to improve the situation, we will continue to have an aggravated situation and one of the most problematic on the continent of Europe. Not worse than Turkey, Poland, Azerbaijan, but it is extremely serious," said Ms. Kusari.

The concern of the Albanian journalists was joined again today by the Ambassador of the European Union in Albania, Luigi Soreca, who stressed that no journalist should be harmed because of the work he does, they should feel safe to work, and without media freedom, there are no free and democratic societies.

Ambassador Soreca said that freedom of expression and the media is an important point in the EU's relations with candidate countries like Albania, and a key standard by which the EU assesses the candidate countries' progress towards membership.

While the investigative reporter, Lindita Çela, part of the project for reporting on Organized Crime and Corruption, says that these roundtables with internationals are very important to protect journalists because they are the only way to raise their voice and discuss problems. But after these roundtables with the internationals are closed, no one deals with the real problems that journalists have in Albania.

"After these meetings, we get involved in our daily work and all these difficulties that are listed at such tables are again left to us to face. Journalism in Albania currently has very big problems, stemming from the government's desire to control the media. It seems that the media is completely under the control of the government. We also have a government decision, which aims to set up an agency, and which has started to be called the ministry of propaganda." It seems that journalists are left alone in their battle," said Ms. Cela.

Self-regulation of the journalist community is considered the best way to fix the critical situation, but even here many issues remain in the hands of the government, says Ms. Kusari, as long as the media is strongly influenced and used by politics and businesses that have them owned.

"You can not expect self-regulation when most media owners are businessmen, who do not have the media as their first business, but use them as a tool to blackmail the government, or as they say here in Albania about some of them. , are finers. You do not expect in these conditions for them to fix themselves. The first and greatest hope remains in international influence because Albania aspires to become a member of the European Union. We can still use international influence to make things better. Although the situation is aggravated, there are good and courageous journalists, albeit in small numbers, and the hope is in them," said Ms. Kusari - a member of the European Center for Media and Press Freedom.

Albania is on the verge of opening negotiations for full membership in the European Union and needs to meet international standards for the protection of journalists, increase safeguards, and a safe working environment for them.