MEPs did not receive guarantees from the Albanian government for Zvërnec

The delegation of MEPs from the Green/European Free Alliance (Green/EFA) group in the European Parliament concluded on Wednesday its fact-finding mission on the threat posed to the Vjosa-Narte Lagoon Protected Area by a tourism project, contrary to European Union standards, as well as to closely observe the daily protests in Tirana against the government.

Dutch MEP Tineke Strik, at a press conference from Europa House in Tirana, said that from a field visit to Zvërnec - where the land was fenced off and some works were carried out to pave the way for the project, it had caused shocking and serious damage to this area.

"The damage caused so far constitutes a clear violation of the EU Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive," she said, adding that sand dunes, forests, wetlands have been damaged and the connection between the sea and the lagoon has been blocked.

But, Strik admitted that despite the justifications for this project, the Albanian government had not provided guarantees for the further protection of the area.

“The minister insisted that these interventions were necessary to carry out the environmental impact assessment,” she said.

"We explained to him that you cannot build first and then assess whether the construction is acceptable," Strik added, describing the conversation with Environment Minister Sofjan Jaupaj.

Paraphrasing this conversation with many 'disagreements', Strik said that the minister had promised a 20-day deadline for public consultations and justified their absence by the fact that the project is being carried out on private property, which for the MEP does not hold up as it contradicts EU standards.

"However, we did not receive any guarantee that the activities would stop," she stressed, adding that "our concerns remain."

Minister Jaupaj did not provide any guarantees regarding the repeal of the legal changes to the Law on Protected Areas, a request approved in the EP resolution in June, attributing these changes to the process of harmonizing laws with those of the EU by the end of 2027.

“You can’t first worsen the situation and then say that after a year and a half you will harmonize it with European standards,” Strik said, referring to her stance at the meeting with Jaupaj. “By then the damage is done,” she added.

Strik was the proposer of amendment 27 that was included in the EP resolution on the European Commission's progress report on the progress of accession negotiations with Albania.

This amendment, voted on by an overwhelming majority of members, required the Albanian government to impose a moratorium on construction within protected areas until the repeal of the legal package that paved the way for these constructions.

But on the day of the plenary session when the resolution was voted on, the parliamentary leaders of the ruling Socialist Party took an unprecedented step by asking EP members not to vote for this amendment, as publicly denounced by German MP Jutta Paulus during her visit to Tirana.

Asked whether this action was a normal thing or was considered pressure from MEPs, Strik assessed that it was the latter.

“Our task is to exercise democratic control over the way the European Union assesses the situation in Albania, as well as to ensure that no violations of European standards occur in Albania,” she said.

"Therefore, I would consider such a direct appeal to MEPs a form of political intervention," Strik added.

Strik praised the citizen protests and their call "Albania is not for sale," while criticizing the government's behavior towards the protesters.

“Instead of taking peaceful protesters seriously, politicians are attacking them with smear campaigns and forms of intimidation,” she said.

"This is unacceptable and does not comply with the standards of a genuine democracy," Strik emphasized.

She also emphasized that the protests launched to protect the Vjosa-Narta lagoon had highlighted larger problems in the country, such as: lack of public consultation, lack of transparency, and corruption at high levels.

In this context, she praised the work of the justice systems and called on politics not to become an obstacle.

"Politicians should not be protected or obstruct investigations," she said, also demanding that "the government work seriously towards a functional system of the rule of law, with zero tolerance for corruption and unfair public procurement procedures."

The head of the EP delegation, Strik, who is the shadow rapporteur for Albania, was accompanied on this visit by MEPs Jutta Paulus, Cristina Guarda, Anna Strolenberg, Nicolae Ștefănuță and Daniel Freund. The delegation was also joined by Boris Mijatović, member of the German Bundestag; Jelena Miloš, member of the Croatian Parliament; Finnish municipal councillor Hanna Partanen; and the co-chair of the European Green Party, Vula Tsetsi.

They participated in the protest on Monday evening where they gave messages of support to the protesters who have been opposing the project in Zvërnec for more than a month and are demanding the resignation of the government, which they blame for high corruption and the destruction of nature through similar projects that are controversial in terms of their legality and transparency. Reporter.al