The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has completed the draft and published for public consultation the draft law “On foreign service in the Republic of Albania”.
The Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Megi Fino, and General Secretary Armand Skapi, in their statements to the media, focused on the changes proposed in the new draft law.
Deputy Minister Fino stated that it was necessary to review the entire legal framework for the Foreign Service, emphasizing that the geopolitical situation has also changed since the adoption of the current law in 2015.
“Another innovation comes as a response to a call during these last 10 years from experts, from Albanian citizens who work or have worked with International Organizations and who want to become part of the Foreign Service, and this is an innovation of this draft law that will give them the opportunity to become part of the Foreign Service if they want to bring their expertise”, she said.
The Secretary General of MEPJ, Armand Skapi, emphasized that the practice of the 4-year mandate, which is proposed in the new draft law, is more effective, giving diplomats the opportunity to perform better in the host country.
“By determining the fixed 4-year mandate, the diplomat at the end of the mandate prepares to take another task, or in another country, and this renewal of the mandate happens only once and for another country, or return to MEPJ or to other institutions where the diplomat has worked before”, he said.
According to him, the draft law as a whole tries to reflect not only the needs but also the current problems that have been identified in the implementation of the current law.
Both officials emphasized that in the creation of the new draft law, comments were received from all the diplomats of MEFA and the Missions, as well as some models of diplomacy or the Foreign Service of several different EU countries and also states were seen and evaluated who have services similar to Albania.