After six years of SafeJournalists work in Albania, the Network is entering a new phase that strengthens national ownership and places journalists and their professional representation even more firmly at the centre of its work in the country.
Albania joined the SafeJournalists regional monitoring framework in 2020. Since then, Blerjana Bino has led the Network’s research and monitoring work in Albania, documenting violations against journalists, producing the annual assessments of media freedom and journalists’ safety, contributing dedicated research on the safety of women journalists and media workers, and supporting advocacy and dialogue with journalists, institutions and international partners.
As of August 2026, the Association of Journalists of Albania (AGSH) has become a full member of the SafeJournalists Network. The new phase, supported by the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), brings Albania into the same association-based model that underpins the Network across the region and strengthens the direct institutional link between SafeJournalists and the journalists’ community in Albania.
This transition builds on the work developed over the past six years and on the cooperation established with AGSH since the association’s creation. Membership in SafeJournalists provides an important opportunity for AGSH to develop its role further, strengthen its capacity to support journalists directly and deepen its links with journalists’ associations across the region.
At the same time, the transition ensures continuity of the Network’s research and evidence base. Blerjana Bino will remain SafeJournalists’ national researcher for Albania, continuing to author the annual media freedom and journalists’ safety assessment and the Network’s research on the safety of women journalists and media workers. This preserves the expertise and evidence base developed since 2020, while AGSH assumes the role of the Network’s full member in Albania, with an expanded role in monitoring, response, advocacy and direct engagement with journalists.
This new phase therefore combines continuity of expertise and evidence with stronger ownership by the journalists’ community, building on six years of SafeJournalists work in Albania while creating stronger foundations for the Network’s long-term presence and support to journalists in the country.
The members of the SafeJournalists Network are: Association of Journalists of Albania, Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Association of Journalists of Macedonia, BH Journalists Association, Croatian Journalists’ Association, Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, Trade Union of Media of Montenegro
