Our research also shows that young people see the same number of politician role models among both younger and older current politicians, implying that they see no difference in the political behaviour of politicians of different ages. Also, when it comes to personal involvement in politics, we noticed a discrepancy in the opinions of the young people surveyed: While around 70% of them think that young people should get involved in politics in Albania, 60% claim that they personally they would not enter politics. Also, a very high percentage of respondees – around 64% – thinks that politics at both the national and local level disregards the needs of young people.

The correlation between youth alienation from politics and a high level of youth emigration, which has been noted in other Western Balkan countries, is also confirmed in Albania where 71% of them declare that emigrating is a part of their short- or mid-term plans. And the negative perception of the political and economic climate in the country is the main driver for emigration: when asked to choose among several options, young people named corruption, the economy and education as the main problems the country faces.

Albania has been facing political challenges in the last year. In this context, WFD is working to improve the political party system through working with the youth wings of three main parties. For example, WFD has organized a series of training sessions for members of youth wings to building trust and collaboration among them.