Gjadër: The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for 2026 went to Maite Vermeulen and Giacomo Zandonini of De Correspondent for their investigation into Italy’s migration deal with Albania. The European Parliament announced the winners on Wednesday 21 October 2026 at a ceremony in Strasbourg. The prize carries €20,000.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize jury picked the work from 344 submissions, which journalists from across the Union sent in between 4 May and 31 July 2026. Ten investigations reached the final round. A panel of journalists from all 27 member states made the selection, and Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Vice-President Pina Picierno, who oversees the award, attended the ceremony.
The winning report appeared in January 2026 under the title “Cuffed, caged, cast away”. It looks at the two centres that Italy runs on Albanian soil, at Shëngjin and in the village of Gjadër. Italy opened them in 2024 to process asylum seekers rescued at sea. In March 2025 the Meloni government repurposed them to hold irregular migrants who were already in Italy and faced deportation.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize recognises a long effort, because Vermeulen and Zandonini spent 18 months on the project. They filed more than 30 freedom of information requests across six European countries, and they also sent requests to the Commission, the Council and Frontex. They interviewed staff, detainees, lawyers, members of parliament, government representatives and residents of Albania. Access was hard to win, because staff signed strict non-disclosure agreements and the contracts stayed secret.
The reporters document breaches of fundamental rights and of EU law in how migrants were held and transferred. They also put a price on the scheme. By their estimate, the centres cost about €259 million over the first two years and held 256 people, which works out at roughly €1 million per detainee. Vermeulen told Euronews that the arrangement looks more like a large public relations operation than a policy that speeds up returns.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize lands amid a legal fight, because the courts have not given Rome an easy ride. The Court of Justice ruled in August 2025 that a country can only appear on a safe-country list if it protects its entire population, and that national judges must be able to review the designation. In April 2026 Advocate General Emiliou argued in a non-binding opinion that the original accord is compatible with EU law as long as EU safeguards apply. Euronews reports that five EU countries now want to set up similar return hubs in Africa by 2027 under a recently adopted EU law.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize gives that debate a fresh reference point. Metsola said at the ceremony that nine years after the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Parliament stands with journalists and press freedom. The award dates from 2020 and is open to professional journalists and teams of any nationality whose work appeared in an outlet based in a member state. Last year the jury honoured Follow the Money for “The Shadow Fleet Secrets”.
For lawmakers who now write return rules, the 2026 winners offer a record of what happened behind the fences. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize does not change the law, but it does show how much scrutiny a single migration deal can attract once reporters get past the secrecy.
