In January of this year, the parliamentary majority in Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vu?i?, approved through an accelerated procedure legal changes that give the government greater control over the prosecution and judiciary.
The intervention was not accidental. It came after the investigations into the accident with 16 victims at the Novi Sad train station in the fall of 2024, as well as the accusations raised for falsifying documents in favor of Jared Kushner’s project, targeted powerful people close to Vu?i?.
The proposed legal changes in Serbia were not tolerated by Brussels.
In an interview with Reuters, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos warned Belgrade on February 13 that if it did not withdraw the legal changes, the EU could suspend a 1.6 billion euro loan to Serbia.
“These (funds) have preconditions related to the rule of law,” Kos declared.
The rule of law is one of the fundamental values ??of the European Union and a key obligation for Western Balkan countries aspiring to become members of the bloc.
This, however, does not seem to have prevented Prime Minister Edi Rama’s majority in Albania, similar to Vu?i?’s, from proposing legal changes that essentially aim to protect officials in positions of power from investigations by the Special Prosecution Office.
On February 16, Prime Minister Edi Rama submitted to the Assembly with his signature a draft law amending Article 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code, according to which the prime minister and his government cabinet are not affected by the measure of suspension from office as part of a criminal proceeding.
The proposal comes after a period of tension between Rama and the justice system regarding the suspension from office and a request to lift the immunity of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, accused of violating equality in tenders worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Rama’s amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code is being closely monitored by the European Union, which expects any legislative initiative related to the judiciary to be in line with the EU acquis and European standards.
The European Union Delegation to Albania told BIRN that monitoring also includes the implementation of the 2016 justice reform in the framework of accession negotiations, because “the rule of law and the independence, accountability and efficiency of the judiciary in Albania are fundamental elements of the EU enlargement process.”
“Rhetoric that fosters public distrust in the judiciary and in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judicial and prosecutorial systems is counterproductive,” said the EU Delegation to Albania.
“The effective fight against corruption is of vital importance for Albania’s progress towards EU membership,” the Delegation stressed.
Risk to integration
In recent years, the Special Prosecution Office has undertaken corruption investigations against some of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s close associates in the government, but the criminal prosecution against the government’s number two marked a turning point.
Balluku is accused by SPAK of predetermining the winner of the 190 million euro tender for the Llogara tunnel, while he is being investigated for manipulating the competition in other costly infrastructure projects such as the Grand Ring Road or the Thumanë-Kashar road concession.
Unlike other cases, Prime Minister Rama led a legal battle in the Constitutional Court to block Balluk’s suspension from office, while his majority in the Assembly has been holding hostage for two months a request by SPAK to authorize the arrest of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The European Union has made it clear more than once that the fight against corruption and a state of rule of law are essential criteria in the negotiations, while the Special Prosecution Office has received assessments in annual progress reports.
Changes in legislation to strengthen the immunity of the prime minister and his government from SPAK investigations are considered another “red line”, which, according to experts, will have its own impact on the country’s negotiation process with the European Union.
Altin Gjeta, a political science researcher at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, told BIRN that the proposed legal changes limit the scope of justice against senior officials, while simultaneously risking “slowing down Albania’s integration.”
“The EU has indeed set as a geostrategic objective the acceleration of Albania’s EU membership, but the establishment of a political shield against the investigation of corruption at high levels jeopardizes the basis of the legitimacy of enlargement,” said Gjeta.
According to him, the rhetoric and political obstacles being placed on SPAK in the fight against organized crime and corruption will make it very difficult for senior EU officials and member states to defend the position for Albania’s accelerated membership before their voters.
Gjeta also emphasized that progress in the negotiating chapters is technically and politically linked to progress in the core group of chapters, where the functioning of institutions and the rule of law are key criteria.
“Undermining the fight against corruption at high levels would put a damper on the process,” he said.
Political scientist Ermal Hasimja is also critical, while emphasizing that the socialist majority’s attitude towards justice was predictable since the last parliamentary elections, where they won 83 seats.
“As I have warned before, the justice system would be the first target of the socialist majority as it steps up its crackdown on corruption. Just as happened before in Romania and Serbia, the government is moving from attacks on individuals to legal changes to disable justice,” Hasimja said.
The costs of this attack are not only in freezing or slowing down negotiations, but could also affect Rama’s relations with Brussels.
“This could slow down and even block the EU integration process, because justice reform is not only a product of international will, but also an instrument of the functioning of any state that claims to be a member of the EU,” Hasimja told BIRN.
“Openly coming out against the internationals will have a high cost for Rama, but the government can only be changed by internal factors,” he concluded./ reporter.al
