The Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Gent Cakaj, has responded to the aggravated situation related to the consular services in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Cakaj emphasized in a Facebook post that the high numbers of the requests alongside with the restrictions imposed from the pandemic have caused a huge workload on the consular staff.
“With the change of the whole staff in Athens and the deep reorganization of work in Thessaloniki, we are seeing the initial positive results. There is still work, I know, but now it is clear that the work is in the right direction.”- Cakaj said in his post.

Chief Diplomat Cakaj added that after increasing the number of staff dealing with consular services, increasing the security measures and extending the working hours, there were unprecedented results.

From 1st January until 26th July 2020, there were 3.178 applications for passports from the embassy in Athens. Calculating the days when it was possible to work, due to the pandemic, there were approximately 126 applications per day.
In the same time, the General Consulate in Thessaloniki has finalized 12.445 applications for passports. Calculating the number of the working days allowed from the pandemic, there were approximately 113 applications per day.

Meanwhile, from 27th July to 28th August 2020, our Embassy in Athens has finalized 9.100 applications for passports, or 445 passports per day. The number has increased 4 times the level of the service, compared to the same period of the previous year.
From 27th July to 28th August 2020, our General Consulate in Thessaloniki has done 4.370 applications for passports. Meaning 218 passports per day a number that doubles the level of the service, compared with to the medium of the whole first period of 2020.

It is also worth mentioning that from 27th July 2020 to 28th August 2020, 6.656 passports/ID cards were done and delivered in the Embassy in Athens and 6.389 passports and ID cards in the General Consulate in Thessaloniki.

Furthermore, the Acting Minister Cakaj said that these data show an extraordinary rise of performance of the consular staff. In the effort to serve to the Albanian citizens, as Cakaj emphasized, the consular staff has pushed the boundaries of its physical work.

“Being very self-aware that there is need for further improvement of the work related to the consular services, we reassure you that we are working unsparingly to give a new look to the working spaces and to raise the quality of the services for our honorable citizens.”- concluded Cakaj his post.