IPI joins SafeJournalists Network, the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Albanian media freedom organizations, in sending an open letter to the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Niko Peleshi.

In the letter, the media freedom groups raise serious concerns over proposals by the parliamentary majority to restrict journalists’ access to Parliament. Reported changes include abolishing independent filming in the plenary chamber in favor of a single official feed and limiting media interactions with MPs to a designated “doorstep” area.

We warn that such restrictions would reduce accountability, deprive the public of independent access to information, and represent a major setback for press freedom. We stress that Parliament remains one of the few spaces where journalists can directly question political representatives, as government officials and majority MPs rarely hold press conferences or participate in independent debates.

The full text of the letter sent today can be found below.

To: Mr. Niko Peleshi, Speaker of the Parliament of Albania

Cc:

Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Means of Public Information
Mr. Taulant Balla, Head of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party
Mr. Gazment Bardhi, Head of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party
Mr. Tedi Blushi, Head of the Parliamentary Group of the Freedom Party

Subject: Concerns over proposals to restrict journalists’ access to Parliament

Dear Mr. Peleshi,

We, the SafeJournalists Network, the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and media freedom organisations in Albania, express our deep concern regarding recent proposals by the parliamentary majority to significantly restrict journalists’ access to the Parliament of Albania. These proposals, as reported by journalists, foresee abolishing independent filming in the plenary chamber and replacing it entirely with a single official feed, as well as confining all interactions between MPs and the media to a single designated “doorstep” space. If implemented, this would effectively eliminate direct and spontaneous contact between journalists and elected representatives and make accountability voluntary.

Such restrictions would deprive the public of one of the few remaining avenues for holding MPs and ministers accountable. While the protection of MPs’ private communications is a legitimate concern, it cannot serve as a pretext for removing independent cameras from the plenary chamber or for barring journalists from approaching MPs in parliamentary spaces. We have previously raised concerns about the media accreditation rules introduced by the Parliament in 2021, which already curtailed journalists’ freedom of movement inside Parliament and increased reliance on official feeds. Since then we have documented repeated cases of obstruction and a broader pattern of limited access .

In Albania, the broader media environment makes these proposed restrictions even more concerning. Government representatives and majority MPs rarely hold press conferences or appear on independent debate shows, relying instead on curated communication through social media or pre-prepared audiovisual materials produced and distributed by the Media and Information Agency. Delays, refusals, and centralization already hinder access to public information. Parliament has therefore been the last institutional space where journalists could directly and spontaneously question political representatives. To remove this space would amount to a serious setback for media freedom and democratic accountability.