The EU–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee are currently meeting for the twelfth time. Drug cultivation and trafficking in the country will, for the first time, be included in the discussion agenda.
The head of the visiting EU delegation, Monica Macovei, has been the only one to repeatedly to ask the European Council inquire into the state of crime and drugs in the country.
Macovei underlined the impunity shielding crime and corruption in Albania during her speech, stating that “there are many investigations, but few prosecutions.”
Furthermore, on April 18, 2017, the EU deputy presented the European Council with a written question regarding the war on drugs in Albania:
In the past 25 years, Albania has become one of the chief sources of cannabis on international markets. In the light of the huge increase in planted areas, the current situation raises serious concerns. According to a 2016 survey by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol, Albania is a significant source country for herbal cannabis trafficked to the EU.
The most widely used drug in Europe, cannabis is estimated to account for around 38% of the retail market for illicit drugs and to be worth more than EUR 9.3 billion every year — approximately half of Albania’s GDP. According to the Albanian authorities, between 2013 and 2016 there was an approximate 30% decrease in areas set aside for the cultivation of cannabis, though this claim requires thorough verification. While some progress has been made, cooperation between police and prosecution needs to be further strengthened so that criminal networks can be dismantled more effectively.
Albania was granted the status of candidate country for EU membership in June 2014. What concrete measures is the Commission implementing and planning to implement in the short and long-term in order to assist Albania in its efforts to eradicate the rapid growth of organised crime, and, in particular, to stop the country is a source of cannabis on international markets and help it forge ahead effectively with its pathway towards EU membership?
