EP urges Albania to halt controversial projects damaging the environment

The European Parliament's latest resolution on the enlargement process – specifically on the progress of the Western Balkan countries – sent a clear signal regarding environmental and biodiversity protection measures in Albania, which according to the EU are non-negotiable when it comes to the integration process.

According to MEPs, Albania must take concrete steps to protect natural heritage, including citizens in environmental decision-making, in line with its obligation to adhere to the international conventions of Aarhus and Espoo.

“As negotiations intensify, progress in environmental protection must be placed at the center of these countries' reforms,” said Viktor Berishaj, policy officer at the German environmental organization EuroNatur.

In recent years, environmental organizations have sharply criticized legal changes affecting protected areas in Albania, as well as controversial projects such as the Vlora Airport in the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape or the plans for hydroelectric power plants in Vjosa and Skavica.

Although it welcomed the decision to declare Vjosa a National Park, the European Parliament called on Albania to withdraw controversial laws and projects that endanger the environment.

The European Parliament resolution expresses concerns regarding the recent legal changes regarding the Law on Protected Areas in Albania, which according to them paves the way for large tourist infrastructures in ecologically sensitive areas.

"MEPs call for these legal changes to be withdrawn immediately in order to ensure compliance with EU environmental standards," reads a summary of the resolution published by the EuroNatur organization.

"Albanian authorities are also called upon to manage habitats for endangered species, in particular the Balkan falcon, and to abandon plans for the Skavica hydroelectric power plant on the Drin River, which they believe would have major ecological and social consequences," the resolution's summary on the environment further states.

The document also highlights concerns regarding the construction of Vlora Airport in the Vjosa-Nartë protected landscape.

Gabriel Schwaderer, executive director of the environmental organization EuroNatur, said that it is precisely time for the Albanian government to show how seriously it has taken membership in the European Union, taking into account the requirements for environmental protection.

"We strongly support the European Parliament's message to Albania. The government must show seriousness about EU membership by stopping projects that violate conservation laws and weaken the conservation of protected areas," said Schwaderer.

"Progress in negotiations is only possible through concrete progress in nature protection," he continued.

The resolution emphasizes that above all these measures aim to protect the country's natural heritage, and not to sacrifice it for temporary developments. Reporter.al