Thank you, Mr. Chair, Ambassador Šramek,
I congratulate you and the Secretariat for the successful organization of this session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. I thank also Executive Director Ghada Waly for her inspiring words and strong leadership of the UNODC.
At the outset, I reiterate that my country condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s ongoing illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, which has far-reaching consequences in Ukraine and beyond. Albania stands in full solidarity with Ukraine.
The agenda before us is comprehensive and ambitious, whereas the theme of this session, “promoting international cooperation and technical assistance to prevent and address crimes” is very timely. We are glad to lend one of our experts from the Ministry of Justice to one of the panels of the thematic discussion tomorrow.
We look forward to learning from the experience of other countries in sharpening the crime prevention and criminal justice mechanisms. At the same time, we are willing to contribute with Albania’s own experience, which has embarked on a transformational reform in the justice sector.
Through the establishment of special prosecution offices and court to investigate and adjudicate cases of organized crime and corruption, we believe that our country has laid the foundation for a solid track record in the justice system.
Albania has taken legislative and institutional measures through national strategies for an effective international judicial co-operation on transnational organized crime, corruption, terrorism, targeting proceeds of crime and other forms of crime, as well as on extraditions and cross-border and regional communication and co-operation.
Albania is no longer subject to increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force, after completing all the recommendations related to asset recovery and transparency of beneficial ownership.
As it advances on the path of EU accession, my country is increasingly engaged in ensuring full alignment with best international standards in the rule of law, including the proper implementation of UNTOC and UNCAC, and towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In doing so, our focus is: strengthening the criminal justice system, ensuring equal access and due process rights, as well as integrating a gender perspective and human rights for all.
We appreciate the valuable work of the UNODC in supporting and assisting us and the countries in our region.
Attaching great importance to strengthening youth crime prevention, together with the OSCE and others, at this CCPCJ Albania is co-sponsoring the side event that is taking place today on “Effectively engaging youth in crime prevention – examples and lessons learned from whole-of-society approaches”.
Emerging crime trends make us more aware of the need for crafting response mechanisms collectively. For this reason, we look forward to the meaningful exchange of ideas and common efforts from members states, as well as intergovernmental and civil society organizations.
In closing, being elected to CCPCJ for 2025-2027, Albania looks forward to working even more closely with the Member States and the UNODC.
I wish all of us success and look forward to fruitful discussions. Thank you!