After Rama warned of travel restrictions on people he links to protest violence, Brussels explains who decides. Its response announces no individual bans.
The European Commission told BIRN that EU member states decide whether to allow or refuse entry to their territory. Its response, published on 23 October 2026, followed Prime Minister Edi Rama’s warning of travel restrictions on people he links to violence at protests.
Brussels stressed that such decisions must comply with European and national law. The response announces no individual bans and does not confirm that any country has agreed to the request Rama said he would pursue.
Rama outlined the initiative at a meeting with banking executives on 21 October. In the speech published by the prime minister’s office, he promised a special register of people he described as violent, alongside restrictions at airports, hotels, on trains and other transport.
He also said cooperation with EU countries had begun to prevent these people from entering. His speech named no country that had made such a decision and presented no published agreement for implementing it.
Rama justified the package as a response to attacks on police and damage to public and private property. He presented the measures as steps to be taken, not individual decisions already communicated to citizens.
For travellers, the distinction matters. A political statement in Tirana does not establish whether authorities in their destination country have decided to refuse them entry. That requires a decision by the relevant authority, stating the reasons and legal basis.
The Schengen Borders Code sets the rules for crossing the area’s borders, including checks on citizens of countries outside the EU. For short stays, entry conditions include valid documents, the purpose of the trip and sufficient means to cover its costs.
Entry can also be refused on public order or security grounds, under the code’s conditions. European rules therefore allow restrictions, but require a specific procedure and a decision by the authority empowered to make it.
Article 14 requires a refusal to state its reasons and to be given to the person on a standard form. It also provides a right of appeal under national law, although an appeal does not automatically suspend the refusal.
In its response to BIRN, the Commission defended the right to peaceful protest and condemned violence. It said the authorities’ response must be proportionate, meaning it must match the risk, and comply with the law.
The Commission said it would continue monitoring fundamental rights in Albania during EU accession negotiations. Its position addresses both the state’s duty to maintain order and the legal limits on how it exercises power.
What remains to be seen is what measures Albania’s government proposes and whether any European country takes concrete action. Until then, Rama’s warning and the Commission’s clarification are two institutional positions, not an announcement that borders have been closed to protesters.