Prime Minister Edi Rama has called on the country’s judicial institutions to sit down for joint talks aimed at finding a long-term solution to a dispute over the salary system for magistrates.

In a post on X, Rama urged the heads of Albania’s judicial councils and other justice institutions to join a working meeting “without wasting time” to address the issue of magistrates’ salaries.

Rama said the goal should be to establish a sustainable, long-term system that guarantees magistrates’ salaries while also preserving what he described as the overall balance of the state salary structure.

The prime minister said the meeting could also include experts from the Council of Europe and representatives of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice, known as CEPEJ.

Rama also defended his government’s record on judicial independence and magistrates’ pay, saying that their increased independence and their status as among the highest-paid public officials in Albania were the result of decisions taken by the governing majority.

“Magistrates in Albania should not forget that their unprecedented level of independence and their treatment with the highest salaries in the Republic of Albania, and among the highest in the region, did not fall from the sky,” Rama wrote.

He said the government was not seeking confrontation with the judiciary, but rather institutional cooperation while respecting the mutual independence of the branches of government.

“If we have disagreements, it is up to us to address them with wisdom and patience,” Rama said, calling for an approach that would demonstrate what he described as “state dignity” toward Albanian citizens and the country’s international partners.

The comments come amid a broader debate over the structure and level of salaries for magistrates, including judges and prosecutors, and the balance between judicial independence and the state’s overall pay system.