Some members of the European Parliament have spoken out over the continued use of pre-trial detention, saying its practice raises “serious concerns”. European Union Council President Antonio Costa has said that Western Balkan countries “belong” in the European Union and Albania, along with Montenegro, has been praised by the EU for “showing the way as enlargement frontrunners”. MEPs, who are generally supportive of these states joining the EU, are currently in both of the two EU accession countries on a short fact-finding visit. The visit concludes on 18 February.
However, some issues and potential hurdles still remain, one being about the rule of law and, specifically, the practice of pre-trial detention. One case that has been in the headlines is that of Erion Veliaj, the three-time mayor of Albanian capital, Tirana.
This month (February) marks the one-year anniversary of what some say is his “unjust” detention and highlights current shortcomings in the practice of pre-trial detention. Concerns regarding pre-trial detention “demonstrate precisely why judicial reforms must deliver real results in people’s daily lives, not just legislative changes on paper,” said one senior MEP.
Pre-trial detention
Latest data shows that Albania has a high rate of pre-trial detention, with approximately 58% of its prison population—roughly 2,653 individuals—reportedly held in remand, a rate up to five times higher than the EU average (94.6 per 100,000 inhabitants). Pre-trial detention is said to be frequently used for crimes like corruption, with an average stay of 253 days. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) says that the high percentage of pretrial detainees causes “significant” overcrowding.
Albania is lauded by the EU for making “rapid” progress towards completing its EU negotiating chapters by as soon as next year and being ready to join the 27-strong bloc by 2030. Campaigners have highlighted the case of Veliaj because they claim it sheds light on Albania’s current EU accession credentials.
MEP delegation visit
The issue is given added topicality as a group of MEPs is currently in Albania (and Montenegro) to assess the progress each country is making on their road to what is expected to be EU accession by the end of this decade. A delegation of the European Parliament’s influential Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) is visiting Podgorica and Tirana from 16 to 18 February, led by AFET committee chair David McAllister.
An EU Parliament source said: “The visit will enable AFET MEPs to evaluate the state of play of accession negotiations and outstanding reform priorities in each country and reaffirm Parliament’s commitment to supporting both countries on their European paths.”
The Veliaj case
Campaigners have highlighted the case of Veliaj, aged 46 and a three time elected mayor of Tirana, who was arrested on February 10, 2025, on corruption and money laundering charges. He strongly denies any wrongdoing and says he was held, without charge, from February to July last year. In September, his detention was reportedly cited by the Municipal Council of Tirana as the basis on which it sought to remove him from his position as Mayor.
Last November, it was also reported that the Constitutional Court rejected any attempt to remove Veliaj from office, affirming his mandate and ensuring that he remains mayor until 2027. Veliaj claims he has been denied access to some 60,000 pages of evidence and the case has drawn significant attention as a test for Albania’s justice reform.
Ben Brandon, of leading UK law firm, Mishcon de Reya LLP, and one of Veliaj’s international counsel, spoke to this website about the case.
Brandon said: “When all is said and done, for me the issue is that he shouldn’t be in pre-trial detention. It’s a ridiculous decision. Regardless of the nature of the allegations made against him (the evidential case for which looks more insubstantial and lacking in merit as the case progresses) he is a democratically elected mayor who has very strong ties in the jurisdiction who has every reason to engage in the process and defend himself at trial.”
He added: “His continued detention not only seriously compromises his ability to carry out his mandate as mayor, but also to properly defend himself against the allegations made against him.
“Given how this case has developed over the past 12 months, his arrest, detention and ultimately prosecution, bear all the hallmarks of a politically motived persecution,” claimed the London-based barrister, a partner in the law firm.
Rule of law
Attention has partly focused on the role of SPAK (Struktura e Posaçme Kundër Korrupsionit dhe Krimit të Organizuar), Albania’s specialized, independent anti-corruption and organized crime structure, set up in 2019–2020 and a key part of judicial reforms.
New York-based law firm, Kasowitz LLP, last October co-authored a report which claimed that, last February, SPAK “escalated its investigation by arresting and detaining Mayor Veliaj on unspecified, undisclosed, and uncharged allegations of “passive corruption”. SPAK, states the law firm, only formally announced its charges against Veliaj on 23 July 2025.
“Remarkably, out of the 18 defendants implicated in SPAK’s “passive corruption” case,Veliaj is the sole defendant whose bail request was denied. 17 other defendants in this case have been released on minimal conditions,” the report asserts. It claims that Valiaj has been “deprived of full access to his legal counsel, which has impaired his ability to adequately prepare his defense.”
The report concludes by alleging that the case “raises serious concerns about Albania’s adherence to the rule of law and represents the most prominent example of Albania’s systemic misuse of pre-trial detention.”
The law firm’s report goes on: “Such actions undermine the principles of democracy, judicial independence, and the rule of law. The Veliaj case thus poses a direct and troubling question: whether Albanian authorities who are willing to disregard constitutional safeguards and override the democratic will of its citizens can credibly claim alignment with the standards of governance and justice required of EU member states.”
In the most recent development, the mayors of the member municipalities of the “B40 Balkan Cities Network”, an inner city organisation between Balkans cities, expressed its concern over the mayor’s continued detention. In a joint letter, the heads of the 76 municipalities called this a “dangerous trend” that “threatens” local democracy in the Balkans and beyond.
Venice Commission
They adopted a finding in the 2025 Venice Commission Report of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe that “the use of pretrial detention against sitting mayors constitutes a serious risk to democratic governance” because it “effectively disenfranchises citizens by sidelining their chosen representatives without due process.” In its report last autumn, the Venice Commission said the use of pre-trial detention “may call into question multiple convention rights”.
“When political figures like local mayors are detained for prolonged periods without conviction, voters lose the capacity to hold their local leaders accountable through democratic means,” it noted.
Rule of Law Report
Separately, the European Union’s annual Rule of Law Report in 2025 highlighted the fact that key progress and major improvements towards meeting accession criteria had been made by Albania and the country has continued implementing judicial reforms.
It also said that the vetting process of judges and prosecutors in Albania “further strengthens” accountability. Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission president, has, additionally, “commended” the “tremendous” progress by Albania” on its EU accession path while Antonio Costa has praised Albania for managing to open all negotiating clusters in a “very short” time, the last ones just in November 2025.
Need for further reforms
It is not just Albania, of course, where some concerns still exist about the current credentials of actual (and would-be) accession countries and MEPs of all political colours have repeatedly stressed the “urgent need” to intensify reforms. Some challenges remain, including the perception among experts, citizens and business community that corruption in the public sector “is high.”
This website has repeatedly approached both Albania’s Mission to the EU and the Government for a comment but, at the time of going to press, it had not received a response to this request.
MEPs reaction
Senior Members of the European Parliament, meanwhile, have spoken to this website about some of their concerns, including the issue of pre-trial detention.
They include David McAllister, a senior German MEP, who, before leaving on the parliamentary delegation to Tirana this week, said, “The rule of law is a fundamental pillar of the European Union and an essential criterion for Albania’s EU accession process.”
He said, “While Albania has taken important steps in judicial reforms, concerns remain regarding the consistent implementation of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and the effective division of powers. In particular, the continued use of pre-trial detention raises serious concerns about fundamental rights, due process, and the presumption of innocence.” “Pre-trial detention must remain an exceptional measure, applied only when strictly necessary, proportionate, and subject to rigorous judicial oversight,” said the veteran MEP.
Renew Europe Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on enlargement, said: “Concerns regarding pre-trial detention practices in Albania demonstrate precisely why judicial reforms must deliver real results in people’s daily lives, not just legislative changes on paper. There can be no shortcuts on EU values and fundamental principles – progress must be tangible and irreversible.” The deputy went on, “Nevertheless, I remain confident that Albania, with continued determination and EU support, can achieve the necessary reforms.”
Danish MEP Anders Vistisen, of the Patriots for Europe group, said: “The seriously deficient system of justice in many of these pre-accession states like Albania should be a serious wake-up call to anybody who has a modicum of respect for human rights and the rule of law.In a few of these states, pre-trial detention can be seen as a tool of political censorship and financial punishment.It is not fit for purpose,” he claimed. Another MEP, Renew Europe deputy Barry Andrews, who is from Ireland, noted, “Albania’s destiny is within the Europe Union but they need to meet all the rule of law standards required.”
Elsewhere, Parliament’s rapporteur on Albania, Andreas Schieder, an Austrian Socialist, said, “To reach its goal of full EU membership by 2030, it is crucial (for Albania) to keep up the good work by broadening the economic model, creating jobs and improving the social welfare model, as well as implementing a comprehensive and inclusive electoral reform.”
The senior MEP said SPAK was playing a “crucial role” in the fight against corruption in Albania and “shows that the Albanian government is taking this task very seriously,” adding, “Their work is essential to a consequent approach to fulfil required pre-accession reforms.
“However, we need to ensure that necessary investigations are followed by rapid processes,” he told this site.
EESC report
Jose Antonio Moreno Diaz is president of the FRRL (Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law) Group with the Brussels-based European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). He visited Albania just last year and voiced “concern” that judicial independence “remains fragile despite substantial reform efforts.”
He heard reports, he said, of trial delays and poor prison conditions with overcrowding and poor medical treatment, including lack of mental health assistance, in detention centres which, he claims, “points to serious institutional shortcomings.” He was informed, he added, of instances where people had died from “preventable health issues” in detention.
Why it matters
Edward McMillan-Scott, a former British vice president of the European Parliament and one of its longest serving ex-members, commented, “Albania enters 2026 with a mixed human rights record, in expectation of accession to the EU in 2027. “High‑profile prosecutions, including those involving former senior officials, have raised questions about selective justice and the robustness of prosecutorial independence. These issues matter. These shortcomings point to vulnerabilities in Albania’s compliance with core human rights treaties.”
Further comment comes from Willy Fautre, director of Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers, who, also speaking to this website, said, “Recent figures show that around 58% of people in Albanian prisons are being held before a final court verdict — a much higher proportion than in most EU countries, where only about 20% of prisoners are typically in pretrial detention.”
Fautre said, “Moreover, the average duration someone spends in pretrial detention in Albania is also long — about 253 days, compared with roughly 155 days in European Union countries.”
“Non-negotiable” values
Denis MacShane, a former Europe Minister in the UK under Tony Blair, believes it is “vital” that all EU member states are in “full conformity with Council of Europe conventions and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in line with the rulings of the Venice Commission.” He said, “Any candidate nation for EU membership must ensure their citizens are covered by European human rights protection.”
Shada Islam, an independent EU commentator and founder of global advisory company New Horizons Project, also told this site, “The fact that senior EU figures, including Antonio Costa, are now publicly setting early deadlines for Albania’s accession reflects a troubling EU lack of attention to questions related to human rights, the rule of law, and democratic norms.
“These values should remain non‑negotiable prerequisites for EU membership. If this is no longer the case and membership is rushed through for geopolitical reasons, it will have profound consequences.”
She adds: “For Albania, it will signal EU tolerance of a faulty justice system where pre‑trial detention is among the highest in Europe.
“For the EU itself, it will mark a retreat from its role as a normative power, undermining its credibility in its immediate neighbourhood and beyond.”
Further EU enlargement is realistic
Antonio Costa has said that this is the first EU commission mandate since 2010-14 where enlargement is a “realistic possibility” while Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, opening his country’s EU presidency just last month, says the EU must remain open to the world. He called for credible progress with the Western Balkans states along with Ukraine, Moldova and Türkiye.
A possible “compromise” is suggested by Giles Merritt, former Brussels bureau chief of the Financial Times and founder of the highly respected Brussels-based think tank, Friends of Europe.
Merritt says that current debate “underlines the case being made increasingly that EU enlargement in the western Balkans should sidestep the Copenhagen criteria and instead offer accession with limited rights and responsibilities that can be increased over time once the newcomer state has demonstrated its respect for the EU’s values”.
No-one from Albania’s EU Mission or government had responded to this site at the time of going to press.
