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'Le Courrier des Balkans': The Albanian government 'closed' the door to France for passports, the visa-free regime is in question

Politiko 2023-01-23 10:02:46

'Le Courrier des Balkans': The Albanian government 'closed'

The Albanian government did not renew the concession contract with the French company Aleat, which has been producing identity cards and biometric passports for sixteen years. Now it will be an Albanian public service business created for this purpose that will be in charge of it, announced the Minister of the Interior Bledi Çuçi.

This is how the article "Le Courrier des Balkans" begins regarding the government's decision to set up a private company that will deal with the issuance of biometric ID cards and passports.

Aleat Sh.pk operates in Albania on the basis of a concession contract concluded between the
Albanian Ministry of the Interior and the consortium that unites the French. IDEMIA SA and the Albanian Development Foundation (AADF) for the production and distribution of identity cards and biometric passports. The concession contract was signed in 2008 and renewed in 2013 for ten years – so it expires in 2023.

With 109 offices across the country, in 2021 Aleat ranked first among all companies in terms of profits, with a profit rate of around 40%.

Its profits reached 2.6 billion ALL (about 22.3 million euros), according to Scan television. The Allied concessionaire enabled Albania to be among the first countries in Europe to implement biometric technology for identity cards. It is precisely these reforms that enabled the removal of visas from the European Union for Albanian citizens.

The article points out that by investing in the establishment of a state-owned company for biometric documents, Albania can question the visa-free regime.

It is about risks related to the protection of personal data and security standards. During the cyber attack of September 10, 2022, for which Albania accused Iran, ANA was blocked and the data of Albanian citizens, including those of some banks, were hacked. On the other hand, Ally and his database were not affected.

The departure of the French company follows similar departures in the banking and telecommunications sectors.

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