THE ALBANIAN PUBLIC'S TRUST IN SECURITY: STUMBLING BLOCKS TO EU NEGOTIATIONS with a general critique of embassies and other western international representatives in Albania. This is due to their perceived support of the government in power. On many occasions when the US embassy or other US representatives have shown positive remarks towards the governments' handling of the justice reform, opposition representatives have proclaimed openly that the US embassy is a puppet of either PM Rama, or other forces, and not the representative of the political will of Washington. The President has famously claimed that"We need rule of law, not the rule of embassies", referring to the great influence that the US embassy and the EU institutions have had in the implementation of the justice reform in Albania. Article on the heavy critique on the US embassy by the President. 45 3. Public Perception on Security in Albania and Europe By analyzing the public perception on matters of security, and the general predominant feeling of the wider public on matters of public security, public order and on how the public believes the problems it perceives can be improved or minimized. To better understand the specific problems of security in Albania we must analyze the data provided on the matters of the perception of security on a comparative basis with several EU member states. In doing so, it would be easier to provide a more specialized analysis of the endemic problems in the Albanian security apparatus, by comparing the perspectives of the people in Albania to those of the people in Europe. The data gathered by the ASB provides an interesting panorama on the public's view of the state of the security in which they live. Nearly 68 percent of those surveyed claimed that they considered their place of residence to be secure or very secure, and 24.1 percent declared that they felt"somewhat safe" and only about 9 percent declare that they feel that their place of residence is"very unsafe" or"not safe" 46 If we analyze the data provided by the EU Special Barometer on Security, we see similar data on matters in EU countries. This survey gathered data on all countries and then produced an average value for the entire EU as a whole. Nearly 91 percent of the polled population in the EU Special Barometer claimed that they felt that their place of residence was secure, divided into 57 percent that fully agree that their place of residence is secure and about 34 percent who tended to agree on the same statement. The countries that had the highest level of people claiming that they did not feel secure in their place of residence were Italy and Bulgaria, which had respectively 16 percent and 17 percent of their surveyed population claiming their 45 Article on the heavy critique on the US embassy by the President: https://tvklan.al/presidenca-perplaset-me-ambasaden-e-shba/ 46 Dyrmishi. Arjan.(2020). Albanian Security Barometer 2019. FES ALBANIA. Page 23. 67