The relationship between Albania and the Asia-Pacific has taken a new turn towards closer friendship. It is a relationship uniquely opportune for Asian countries seeking European market entry or diversification within Europe, and it is driven by an internationally minded country seeking greater integration into Europe alongside the transformational leadership of the likes of Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae. The pairing may seem unusual, but mutually beneficial opportunities have a tendency to move forward, however unusual. In fact, Albania has leveraged its NATO membership to signal shared values with Indo-Pacific interests, opening the door to foundational diplomacy between Japan and Albania first in 2023 and again earlier this year. Takaichi even explicitly encouraged diplomatic cooperation through Japan’s newly reformed Free and Open Indo-Pacific Framework, an agreement that focuses on economic security and supply chain resilience. She made the interesting connection of tying Balkan reform with Indo-Pacific strategy, highlighting a new way forward for cooperation.

Albania has spent the past three years strengthening its relationship with Japan, a country that imports substantially more from Albania than it exports. Conversely, Japan has maintained its Western Balkans Cooperation Initiative (WBCI) since 2018, which supports socio-economic reforms, EU accession, and strengthening the rule of law. The WBCI provides official development assistance, promotes small and medium enterprises and trade for renewable energy, and has established the Youth Exchange MRAI program for building long-term cultural relationships between the regions. The relationship has further strengthened under the new Japanese ambassador to Tirana, Kato Kikuko; however, the sudden friendship between Albania and Japan faces several key challenges.

Albania’s NATO membership, its EU candidacy, and the growing footprint of Japanese companies in Albania have substantiated rhetoric towards cooperation. Nonetheless, in the background of positive diplomacy, a long-running governance dilemma within Tirana poses a threat to sustainable international cooperation. Albania’s internal governance reforms at the judicial level, first initiated as a response to EU accession efforts, have shown little promise. In fact, efforts for reform have resulted in bureaucratic overlap, confusing and complicating the standard rule of law. In 2016, following Constitutional reforms, Tirana established the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK). It was created as an ostensibly independent investigative agency with judicial powers superseding traditional checks and balances. It began prosecutorial operations in December 2019, and by 2025 it had become clear that SPAK posed a new problem of its own.

SPAK has been widely criticized as a tool that serves the interests of elites and outsiders rather than promoting a democratic justice system. In February 2025, it arrested Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj. Charges remained unannounced until late July. Now 18 months later, he still remains in pre-trial detention at Durres Prison, despite intervention from the Constitutional Court in November 2025. The Constitutional Court overturned his removal from the mayor’s office. According to the court, the Municipal Council had acted unconstitutionally when it cited Veliaj’s involuntary detention as the reason for his removal. Meanwhile the Venice Commission Report denounces the use of pre-trial detention against mayors, explicitly naming it as an abuse against democratic rule of law. Erion Veliaj’s case – together with the case of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu – are the two most well-known. SPAK’s investigations have broadly harmed Albania’s reform efforts through opaque documentation, minimal oversight, and an extensive use of pre-trial detention, including of former President Ilir Meta.

The issue of rule-of-law credibility within Albania is not merely a domestic European issue. It is not simply a matter of EU accession. Instead, reform efforts and the establishment of credibility work as an economic and strategic asset for Albania’s international ambitions – especially for competing for Asia-Pacific investment and partnerships. Japan’s investment diplomacy is built on predictability. JICA and JOIN-backed infrastructure lending requires quality assurances and transparent crediting. Tokyo’s markets depend on the assumption that a host country’s legal processes are stable enough to enforce contracts a decade out. But if Albania struggles to reform a judicial system which is riddled with gaps in due process, and often overt violations of some of the most basic human rights of defendants in its justice system, then its larger goals of international cooperation will inevitably falter.

Beyond Erion Veliaj’s case, other instances of judicial corruption have been cropping up. For example, Judge Gent Shala failed to note conflicts of interest when imprisoning an opposition deputy, and Supreme Court President Sokol Sadushi has articulated concerns about political pressures on judicial independence. On the contrary, Sadushi’s political ambitions after his tenure as president of the Supreme Court, raised further questions about the independence of his position, particularly given the argument that keeping Veliaj in detention could serve those ambitions. This is pertinent as the Supreme Court’s review of Veliaj’s pretrial detention measures are scheduled for 15 September.

The new U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Eric Wendt, furthermore, emphasized the need for reform efforts in Albania during his Senate hearing in June. He explicitly advocated for prioritizing rule-of-law and a stronger investment climate for American businesses. These aspirations will require SPAK and the surrounding judicial system to function reliably in-line with Western legal expectations.

As Albania seeks to market itself to the Asia Pacific, to Tokyo, Seoul, and others, it will need to prove its credibility domestically. If its judicial and anti-corruption institutions themselves face questions over independence or due process and political influence, then how will it credibly connect to the Far East? Rule-of-law credibility has often been treated as a checkbox for EU accession; however, it is an economic asset in its own right, and it will directly impact the success of initiatives like Japanese-Albanian cooperation.