The best three stories from Albania in 2020 have been recognised with EU awards for investigative journalism. On Tuesday, journalists Luljeta Progni, Geri Emiri, Anila Hoxha and Esmeralda Keta were selected as this year’s winners for their stories which variously covered the abuse of workers’ rights in Albania, corruption in construction, and wrongdoings behind the curtain of the pandemic.

The jury was headed by journalist and BBC producer Albana Kasapi. The other two members were Idro Seferi, a Deutsche Welle and Swiss TV correspondent, and Elira Canga, a journalist working in media development.

Opening the awards ceremony, the director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Hub, Marija Ristić, stressed the importance of awards like this in recognising journalists who work hard to deliver pieces of real public importance. In presenting the awards, the head of the Political Section of the European Union Delegation in Albania, Alexis Hupin, spoke about investigative journalism as a mechanism for challenging authority and making government more transparent and accountable.