The People's Advocates of Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia signed a Memorandum of Cooperation today in Prizren to guarantee citizens of the three countries rights beyond state borders.

The People's Advocate of Albania, Mr. Endrit Shabani, together with his counterparts Mr. Naim Qelaj and Mr. Faton Selami, pledged to turn the cooperation into tangible benefits for citizens in each of the three countries.

In his speech, Mr. Shabani emphasized the distance between paper and the ground:

"Our governments have met several times in Tirana, Skopje or Pristina and have adopted many facilitating acts. But we are here to check together whether they are being implemented. Does a citizen coming from Kukës really receive medical service in Prizren? Are vacationers from Kosovo on the Albanian coast treated properly? This memorandum gives us the means to protect every citizen," said Shabani.

The tripartite agreement focuses on issues of cross-border interest that directly affect the lives of citizens: healthcare in the three countries, mutual recognition of civil and family documents and decisions (marriage, civil registration, personal documentation), recognition of diplomas and respect for the rights of seasonal workers.

Particular attention was paid to the protection of children in street situations and other vulnerable categories, as well as the institutional treatment of individual cases involving more than one country.

The three Ombudsmen agreed to draft and present each year a Joint Declaration on the situation of human rights in the region. The cooperation takes place within the framework of the Alliance of Mediterranean Peoples' Advocates (AOM), which is led by Mr. Endrit Shabani and to which Kosovo and North Macedonia also adhere.