11:58 13/10/2022
After the ambassador of the European Union delegation in Tirana Christiane Hohman delivered the European Commission’s report on Albania to Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, they held a conference with journalists.
Asked about “one of the chapters of the progress report, when it is said that the government’s policies on incineration contradict the European strategy for the environment and recycling, why it continues to be paid for these projects”, Minister Ballaku stated that ” incinerators are not an invention of Albania”.
During her speech, Minister Balluku emphasized that “incinerators are used in every country in Europe and are used as part of recycling, separation of all waste and their incineration”.
Question: In one of the chapters of the progress report, there is also talk about the environment and it is expressly stated that the policies of the Albanian government on incineration contradict the European strategy for the environment and recycling, but in the meantime you have paid millions of euros for the incinerators and this money has disappeared and the people who have contracted these are wanted by justice. Why do you still continue to pay for these projects that are in violation of European legislation?
Belinda Balluku: In terms of projects, justice does its duty and in Albania, since 2013, justice and the government have gone their separate ways. We never interfere with justice decisions. We have never done it and we will not do it, and we even urge the justice to consider all those issues that have light and that need to be examined. So it’s another matter in terms of justice and incinerators. Regarding the Albanian government and the environment, the progress that the Albanian government has made in environmental issues in the last 9 years is incomparable with all the progress made in the region.
Regarding incineration, once again, Albania did not invent the incinerator. If the Republic of Albania held the patent for incinerators, we would have made a name for ourselves, but we did not invent it. Incinerators are used in every country in Europe and are used as part of recycling, separation of all waste and their incineration.broread