The 15th edition of the International Conference of Information Commissioners was held today in Tirana, the highest and most important forum for the cooperation and coordination of the World Regulatory Authorities of the right to access to public information and transparency.

The conference was held with the participation of 210 delegates and guests, representatives of international organizations, civil society, the media, the academic world, etc. with the aim of promoting the development of international standards in the field of the right to information, creating a forum that promotes dialogue, cooperation and information exchange.

In his speech addressed to the Conference, Prime Minister Rama said, among other things, that “The right to information is not simply a democratic instrument, but a prerequisite for the health and development of functional democracies.”

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Welcome to Tirana! Let me confess that it is really a pleasure to welcome here such a mosaic and finally to have a team, where Europeans are a minority. It’s really a pleasure.

I am very proud of our Commissioner and our Commissioner’s office because the work that they have done is absolutely outstanding and the fact that the Commissioner’s office is held in high esteem throughout this journey of ours to finally become EU member country, is very inspiring.

I will highlight a few points, starting with Plato’s proverbs, “we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy, meanwhile, is when adults are afraid of the light.” I think this is the challenge of how to make adults not be afraid of the light and how to make governments and state institutions not be afraid of the light. In this context, I want to add that the right to information is not simply a democratic instrument, but a prerequisite for the health and development of functional democracies. I am naturally pleased to see the progress made by our authorities on the Transparency Index 2023 from the Office of the Right to Information Commissioner, while I am well aware that this progress says a lot about where we are coming from, and meanwhile it shows again that it is not enough compared to where we want to reach. This is why very soon at the end of June we will hold an annual conference about the right to information which we have conceived together with the commissioner’s office as a confrontation between facts and institutions.

At the same time, however, I believe that for anyone here who is similar to Albania, which means a developing country, a developing democracy, we live in times of great blessing which is technology. This technology gives us as developing countries a tool that was not present until a few decades ago. It thus gives us the opportunity to take an extraordinary step towards the future, embracing exponential progress instead of the linear one that would have forced us to spend a very long time to catch up with other developed countries. On the other hand, I also believe that the blessing comes with a curse that is the ability for this technology to be used for misinformation, chaos or confusion.

The right to information is a tremendous opportunity available to us, so it is up to us to make the most of it, to continue investing in digital infrastructure and education programs to ensure that all citizens have access to effectively use digital platforms.

Secondly, to foster a culture of transparency within public institutions, underlining the importance of public consultation and participatory governance.

Thirdly, to not be afraid of the light, but to embrace the light and to work much more closely with institutions such as the Office of the Commissioner, as the Ombudsman who greets her and who I appreciate very much for the work she and the institution its doing, to ensure that everyone understands from within the government that exposing information and using it to the fullest to bring everything to light is an exercise, a very healthy process and a very effective tool against disinformation.

I will stop here and make sure to reiterate that while you do your best to use this opportunity that has brought you together to have a very fruitful conference, you should not forget at the same time to enjoy this city.

I am sure that for people who come from other continents, there is a feeling of being at home here in Tirana.

I know the Commissioner is a pretty good host, you heard the music. It is the first time in my experience, I have never been to an international conference that starts with music. The implied message is to work but don’t forget to enjoy because life is short, work is long and the results will be better if you combine both.

So, thank you very much once again and I wish you all a good day, especially friends from other continents because we have a lot of Europeans here, every day.

Thank you!