31 March 1993

Doc. 6804

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Supplementary Reply to Recommendation 1179 (1992)

on the exodus of Albanian nationals

(adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 22 March 1993

at the 490th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)


1.       The Committee of Ministers recalls its interim reply to Assembly Recommendation 1179 (1992) on the exodus of Albanian nationals adopted at the 472nd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (March 1992).

2.       The Committee of Ministers shares the Assembly's view that measures are urgently needed to enable Albania to become a stabilising factor in the Balkan region. Efforts are currently being pursued in the framework of the Demosthenes programme, against the background of Albania's application for membership of the Council of Europe which followed President Sali Berisha's address to the Assembly in May 1992. In this connection, the Assembly's attention is drawn to the sub-chapter on aid to Albania in "Chapter III. The Demosthenes Programme", contained in Addendum II (Annual report for 1992 on Cooperation and Assistance Programmes in the Central and Eastern European Countries) to the Statutory Report of the Committee of Ministers for the 4th Part of the 44th Ordinary Session (Doc. 6750).

3.       On the subject of the contribution of the Council of Europe, President Berisha expressed himself, in a letter, dated 25 February 1993, to the Secretary General, in the following terms:

"The recent manifestations of this contribution, such as the setting-up of the Task Force Albania at your initiative, the endeavours made by yourself and by the Council of Europe in launching a number of projects designed to aid the children and schools of Albania, in promoting the drafting of our Constitution and our civil and criminal codes, in hastening the application of the reform of our police, our courts and our public prosecution department, have without doubt given us considerable support and great encouragement to pursue our path towards democracy. Above all I consider your aid and our co-operation with the Council of Europe in the reform of the justice and police system to be of special significance for us Albanians. This assistance has now begun to bear fruit and I can assure you that we are extremely grateful and that we will unreservedly welcome all further collaboration in the fields just mentioned.

May I also take this opportunity to express my high esteem for the experts belonging to the Task Force in Albania for the excellent work which they are performing. I should like to highlight their significant contribution to the human rights "package" which I regard as highly important".

4.       The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly that the Council of Europe assistance to Albania will be intensified in 1993. In this respect, it draws the Assembly's attention to its supplementary reply, adopted in March 1992, to Assembly Recommendation 1171(1991) on the situation of hospitals in Albania: priority needs of the Paediatric Institute of Tirana.

5.       Within the framework of the Demo-droit Programme five seminars have been requested by the Albanian authorities for implementation in the course of 1993. They are to deal with the function of clerk of a court of justice, the training of notaries with a view to the privatisation of the profession, the efficiency and fairness of civil justice, the independence of the judicial system and the legislative reform of central administration and the civil service. Furthermore a European Law Week is planned to be held at the University of Tirana.

6.       As regards the Themis Plan the Albanian authorities have shown particular interest in the training of judges, attorneys, prosecutors, prison staff and officials of the prison administration as well as officials of the Ministry of Justice and lawyers in charge of drafting laws.

7.       Regarding the Task Force Albania a group of six volunteers from the Council of Europe staff will ensure the coordination and continuity of Council of Europe activities as well as intensify them. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe has set up this Task Force in response to a request from President Berisha for specific aid to Albania. The members of the Task Force will provide a permanent presence in Albania on a three-weekly rotation basis for an initial period of six months from January 1993. In carrying out their assignment, they will have back-up from the various Council of Europe departments in Strasbourg.

8.       For the time being negotiations are under way for a joint European Community - Council of Europe programme for Albania with a view to strengthening the respect of Human Rights and the Rule of Law, notably through the training of the legal professions and through assistance in the drafting of the new Civil and Criminal Codes and Procedures. The Task Force Albania will also be entrusted with the implementation of this programme. For certain specified activities, direct co-operation with member States, other international organisations or, possibly, private agencies might be envisaged. That said, the Committee of Ministers of course supports the activities of international humanitarian organisations in Albania.

9.       Where emergency aid to Albania in the schools sector is concerned (originating in Resolution No. 3 adopted by the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education, in Vienna in October 1991), a second meeting of national advisers was held in Strasbourg on 29 September 1992, with the participation of the Albanian Minister and Deputy Minister of Education. The aim was to take stock of the action co-ordinated by the Council of Europe and to learn about the latest situation in Albanian schools. A consensus was reached as to the need to take informal follow-up action. In its official and multilateral form, the operation was terminated on 31 December 1992. Follow-up includes bilateral actions with and twinning arrangements via the CLRAE and NGOs.

10.       The Committee of Ministers referred, in its interim reply of March 1992, to the proposal for an urgent relief system, originating at the 4th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Migration (Luxembourg, September 1991). The principal aim of such a system would be to ensure better co-ordination in the provision of relief requested by the authorities of a State having to cope with a massive inflow of persons fleeing their country. A first meeting of national correspondants on this question took place on 18 and 19 March 1993.

11.       The interim reply also referred to the initiatives taken by Greece, through the Social Development Fund on behalf of Albanians of Greek origin coming to settle in Greece. The figures concerned are the following: for 1991 the Fund agreed to allocate 114.3 million ECUs for this purpose. In 1992 it approved that 24.5 million out of this amount could be used by Greece for projects to be implemented in Albania.