A coalition of press freedom advocates including ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has raised concerns over the 'deteriorating' state of press freedom in Albania.
The coalition's preliminary report, released last week, detailed a number events such as, physical attacks and threats of violence against journalists; politically motivated defamation court cases against journalists; proposed legislation to force online media to register with the state and submit to the oversight of a state-operated administrative body.
The coalition stated, 'We are concerned that Albania, a democracy, a member state of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and a candidate country for the European Union, is not living up to its obligations to guarantee and safeguard freedom of expression and press freedom as required under Albanian law and international instruments including the European Convention on Human Rights'.