In commemoration of World Press Freedom Day (May 3) and International Day to end impunity of the Crimes against Journalists (November 2), the Kingdom of the Netherlands and UNESCO organized World Conference on Press Freedom 2020 ( WPFC), which was held on December 9 and 10, 2020, in a virtual format, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of this conference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Stef Blok, together with the UNESCO DP, Azoulay, organized a ministerial round table meeting on the topic: “Strengthening the engagement for the Safety of Journalists”, to further deepen the cooperation between countries, to improve the safety of journalists and to fight impunity for crimes against them.

The Secretary General of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Armand Skapi, who participated in this virtual meeting, held a speech related to journalist freedom and press freedom. Among other things, Mr. Skapi said that the protection of freedom of expression and freedom of the media, especially in pandemic conditions, assumes special importance.

“We adhere to our statement that the protection and observance of human rights cannot be fulfilled without the protection and respect for the freedom of speech and the freedom of media.”

Moreover, Skapi said that Albania has sanctioned in its Constitution the protection of freedom of speech, while the country is part and gives its contribution to the Friendship Group for protecting the security of the journalists as member of UN, OSCE, CoE, etc. Referring to the national and international commitment, Albania supports the Hague Communication, a product of this ministerial meeting with a concrete commitment to strengthen the protection of journalists.