Country Report on Terrorism 2013: 

Albania (April 30, 2014)

ALBANIA:
Overview:  Albania held national elections in 2013, with the government changing from a coalition led by the center-right Democratic Party to one led by the center-left Socialist Party.  The change in government did not affect Albania’s overall counterterrorism efforts, with the new administration continuing the country’s strong collaboration relationship with the United States.
Albanian government institutions have been aware since 2012 that a small group of Albanians have traveled to fight in Syria.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security:  The Albanian government has prioritized its counter-narcotics effort and directs its limited law enforcement and border security resources against this objective, rather than against terrorism, which it has seen as a less immediate threat.  Albania criminalizes terrorist acts; recruiting and training persons to commit terrorist actions; incitement of terrorist actions; and establishing, leading, and participating in a terrorist organization.  The Albanian State Police has established a counterterrorism sector within the Directorate for Serious Crimes of the Department of Criminal Investigations.
Overall, while Albania has the political will to cooperate with countries in the region on counterterrorism initiatives, it lacked the capacity to implement effective controls.  Corruption coupled with a poorly functioning judicial system continued to hinder Albanian efforts in law enforcement.  Albania does not have the capacity to collect biometric data other than that contained on biometric identity cards presented at border crossing points.  Fingerprint data from clandestine migrants is collected, but not all border control points are equipped with live scanners, resulting in a delay in fingerprints being included in electronic databases or identification of individuals based on fingerprint data.
The Ministry of Interior maintained a name-based watchlist populated by an Albanian national wanted persons list and lost and stolen travel document information.  The database is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Total Information Management System (TIMS), and it is also linked to Interpol databases.
Countering the Financing of Terrorism:  Albania is a member of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval), a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body; and the Albanian Financial Intelligence Unit is a member of the Egmont Group.  Since June 2012, Albania has made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and Moneyval to address its strategic anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism deficiencies.  Progress has been made but work remains to enhance the framework for international cooperation related to terrorist financing and to ensure and implement an adequate legal framework for identifying, tracing, and freezing terrorist assets. 
Albania adopted a new law on measures against the financing of terrorism to comply with the FATF and Moneyval recommendations; final review of this law by the FATF and Moneyval will occur in 2014.  Albania has adopted measures against UNSCR-listed individuals and organizations.
Based on Albanian legislation (the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism), Albanian non-profit organizations are not obliged to submit suspicious transaction reports.  However, non-profit organizations may be considered “clients” of entities subject to the law, and as a result may be subject to extended due diligence if an associated bank or financial institution considers the organization a potential “high risk client” that would require such monitoring.  For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes:http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm. 
Regional and International Cooperation:  Albania’s counterterrorism participation in multilateral and regional organizations includes the UN, OSCE, NATO, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 
Countering Radicalization to Violence and Violent Extremism:  The Government of Albania countered violent extremist narratives that attempted to exploit religious beliefs, and also actively engaged the Albanian Islamic Community, the official administrative body of the Albanian Sunni Muslim community.