Berisha’s Antics Are Useful Distraction for Albanian Govt’s Failures

Unfortunately, for the past 30 years, both international and Albanian leaders have often tipped the scales of justice to serve their respective political agendas.

As Paskal Milo, former foreign minister, noted recently for a leading Albanian daily, the US and Europe threatened to pull aid from Tirana if Berisha was arrested for his coup attempt in 1998.  Their reasoning, then, was that arresting Berisha could lead to further unrest and threaten an already fragile region.

Today is different. The region is more stable, as demonstrated by the recent Open Balkan initiative, linking Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia. Berisha no longer enjoys the support of the West that he once did - evidenced by the recent US decision to designate him and his family personae non grata, for their involvement in "significant corruption."

But Tirana has shown little inclination to arrest Berisha for these actions, or charge him with any crimes. Many of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama's detractors believe this is because Berisha is a welcome distraction from the government's systematic failure to apply the rule of law for years.

They may have a point, as suggested by the most recent European Court of Auditors ECA report on EU rule of law in the Western Balkans.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Photo: EPA-EFE/MAURO SCROBOGNA

According to the ECA report, "EU support for the rule of law in the Western Balkans has had little impact on fundamental reforms."  The report confirms Transparency International and World Bank findings that in Albania and many of its neighbors, "despite years of EU reform action, state capture and widespread corruption have not been contained".

In particular, the report points to the Public Procurement Agency...