The Ombudsman, Mr. Endrit Shabani, reported today before the Commission for Human Rights and Public Information on the state of respect and protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms in Albania during 2025. In the report, he highlighted the areas with the highest volume of complaints from citizens and the most serious violations of human rights.

The subsistence minimum, the oldest social debt

The Ombudsman urged the Parliament to adopt the subsistence minimum by law as soon as possible, the threshold below which no citizen can live with dignity, underlining that Albania remains the only country in the region that has not adopted this threshold by law.

“Seven years ago, our institution was the first public institution to calculate the minimum subsistence level in Albania. Since then, with inflation indexation, today the poverty line is 22,000 lek per month per capita. Faced with these figures, the reality of social protection speaks for itself. We still have pensions below 10,000 lek per month or economic assistance below 9,000 lek per month, which is less than half of this minimum subsistence level,” - said Shabani.

“We welcome the increase in the minimum wage and the increase in pensions, but they remain partial measures as long as we do not have a legal threshold for the minimum living wage. We are not talking about an item in the budget here, but about a minimum standard that the state owes its citizens. Without a minimum living wage approved by law, every pension and every economic aid will continue to be determined without a reference point for human dignity, leading citizens to extreme poverty. This situation must change by law” - said Shabani.

Areas with the highest burden and the most serious violations

In the report for 2025, the Ombudsman highlighted that the main burden remains in property rights and public administration.

“The highest number of complaints is related to the right to property, which remains one of the biggest social wounds and one of the most difficult tests of a democratic state. On the one hand, there are the extreme delays in judicial processes. Suffice it to mention that the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction during 2025 was still reviewing cases from 2018. On the other hand, there is the behavior of the public administration, mainly the Local Directorates of the State Cadastre Agency and the territorial protection inspectorates, where the problems affect the registration, legalization and compensation of property. There are still citizens waiting to be compensated for the 2011 floods,” - said the Ombudsman.

At the end of the report, Endrit Shabani asked the Assembly to review the new organic draft law for the Ombudsman, requesting the expansion of the mandate to act in the private sector as well.