Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania

Back Parliamentary dialogue sets priorities for tackling racism and hate speech in Albania

Press Release

Albania is advancing efforts to strengthen its response to racism and hate speech, as members of parliament, independent institutions, civil society organisations and international partners met today at the National Assembly to discuss concrete legislative and policy priorities aligned with European standards.

The parliamentary dialogue, co-organised by the National Assembly, the European Union and the Council of Europe, within the framework of the EU and CoE joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, focused on how to further improve legal and institutional framework on equality, non-discrimination and combating hate speech.

Opening the event, Jorida Tabaku, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Public Media, underlined that: “Albania demonstrates a clear and unequivocal political will to advance equality and non-discrimination, and Parliament is committed to strengthening the legislative framework in line with European standards”.

Giulia Re, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana, noted that: “Albania has made important progress in aligning its legal framework with European standards. Continued efforts are needed to ensure effective implementation, strengthen institutional co-operation and address remaining gaps”.

Andre Rizzo, Head of Political Section at the European Union Delegation to Albania, stressed that addressing racism and hate speech is an essential part of Albania’s path towards EU accession and for ensuring the effective protection of fundamental rights in law and in practice.

The event featured the presentation of findings from the comparative analysis of anti-racism policies in beneficiaries involved in the EU accession process and the study “Beyond Definitions – A Call for Action against Hate Speech in Albania”. Discussions focused on challenges related to institutional co-ordination, data collection, public awareness and enforcement, as well as on concrete measures to address these gaps.

The dialogue concluded with an exchange on priorities for strengthening Albania’s response to racism and hate speech, including the role of the National Assembly in advancing legislative reforms in line with European standards.

The event was organised within the actions ‘Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans’ and ‘Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania’, part of the EU and CoE joint programme ‘Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye’. These actions aim to support authorities and stakeholders from Albania and the Western Balkans in strengthening the legal and institutional framework on equality and non-discrimination, in line with European standards, including those of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) as well as the EU acquis. The focus is on enhancing policy development, institutional co-ordination and capacity-building, as well as promoting effective responses to discrimination, racism and hate speech in law and in practice, in the context of specific EU accession paths.

Photos from the event

Contacts:
Iva Çoku, Senior Project Officer, Council of Europe, +355695586499

Besnik Baka, Horizontal Facility Regional Communication Officer, Council of Europe, +355692178430

Tirana, Albania 15 April 2026

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The action aims at bringing forward the effects of the reforms in the field of anti-discrimination and combating hate speech. It supports the alignment with European standards to better protect the rights of vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities, further strengthening diversity and equality in Albania.

The action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” running from December 2023 until January 2026.

What is the goal of the action?

The main goal of the action on “Advancing the protection from discrimination in Albania” is to improve protection of minorities and other vulnerable groups in Albania, from discrimination and hate speech/hate crimes, in line with the European standards.

Who benefits from the action?

The action beneficiaries are the public institutions in the field of antidiscrimination, local stakeholders and most importantly the people in Albania. By providing technical assistance and raising awareness of public institutions and related actors in the field, the action brings forward the effects of the reforms in the field of anti-discrimination and combating hate speech as well as advancing the overall protection of human rights for the people of Albania and in particular for the vulnerable communities.

How will the action work?

This action offers assistance in improving the record of fighting discrimination, racism, hate speech and hate crimes in Albania.

The support is provided as part of the EU accession process while the action offers capacity building initiatives, adapting methodologies of the Council of Europe in the field and exchange of best practices, to foster co-operation among partners and the dialogue between stakeholders;

Awareness raising on diversity and anti-discrimination towards other constitutes an important component of the action.

What do we expect to achieve?

Notably, the action will ensure that:

Policy makers better address discrimination and hate speech;
Public institutions and Civil Society Organisations improve responses to ensure fight against discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes;
General public in Albania becomes more aware and contributes to counter intolerance, hate crimes and racism for a more cohesive society.

What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 850,000 Euros. Albania is also benefitting from the regional action on Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans, worth 700,000 Euros.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 Million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe)

About the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.