Policy Papers

Being for quite a long time on the periphery of empires and characterized as a backward region, what is now termed as Western Balkans, manifests existing drawbacks in terms of connectivity with the broader European network of routes, railways, and ports. Despite various differences in terms of infrastructure development and investment, most of the Western Balkan region lags behind compared to other regions or countries in the European Union.

This survey, which has also served to launch our center, is the first step in assessing the currentstate of relations as perceived by citizens of Albania. The photography of citizens’ perceptions is valuable not only as a window to more information about evaluations, myths and misunderstandings but also as a way to measure what expectations about the future of these relations are.

This Policy Paper was prepared in the context of the joint Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) project: “Albania and Kosovo - In quest of a Common Future”. 

A long-term Project in several stages

This survey is part of a broader project that aims at exploring citizens’ views, needs and requirements during the pre-election period in order to affect candidates’ agenda-setting before their term in office starts. By bringing to the candidates the issues that are considered important by citizens, the project aims at connecting the local representatives with their electorate from the early stages of the campaign in order for their political programs to better reflect and respond to local community needs.

In the frame of the TRAIN (Think Tanks Providing Research and Advice through Interaction and Networking) program, provided by the German Council on Foreign Relations, Dritan Sulçebe, Researcher at AIIS, published his Policy Brief: “Preparing for accession negotiations: What role for Civil Society Organizations in Albania?”.

Published in October 2014, this policy brief looked at what has been done so far to promote women in the security sector in Albania and offer recommendations on further improvements and steps. As the title suggests it focused not only on numbers/quotas as a means to promote women participation in this sector. More importantly, it focused on offering policy recommendations that tackle deeper issues related to inclusion and promotion.

In the 2014 edition of The European Perspective of Albania: Perceptions and Realities, focused on several dimensions and elements of the EU integration process. Firstly, the survey measured the support and importance of the EU in the eyes of Albanian citizens, revealing the unchanging trends in terms of high support and the important place the process occupies. The report continues with an analysis of the readiness of the country to join the European Union versus the need to accept Albania in the EU even before it is ready.

The necessary return of ideology: Political parties and ideological profile in Albania

Enfrid Islami

This paper introduces the reader with a short background of political parties in Albania, while focusing on the period after 1991, with the emergence of the multiparty system in the country. The paper aims at providing readers with a profile of political parties in Albania during the 2013 electoral campaign, the hot issues discussed during the campaign, as well as the position of main parties on each of these issues. This paper also aims at emphasizing the role of ideology in Albanian politics at the moment, as well as analyzes the evolution of ideology into an important mechanism for Albanian political parties during electoral campaigns throughout the years. 

In the 2013 edition of the European Perspective of Albania: Perceptions and Realities, the focus was perceptions from citizens on potential effects of integration on the overall economic situation of the country, on the benefits and cost that Albanian business might see during this process and after accession as well as one some more specific issues such as privileged sectors to benefit from integration/accession according to public perception and attitude towards the euro currency. This section theme was chosen for two reasons.