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The State Department is so far refusing to comment on a growing corruption crisis engulfing the Balkan nation of Albania — a vital U.S. ally in the region.
Following an Albanian court’s decision to remove Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku from her position on allegations she interfered in two construction bids, socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama took the issue to the country’s Constitutional Court, which on Friday reinstated her until a “final decision” could be made, according to media reports.
The Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure (SPAK) issued a criminal indictment against Balluku on Oct. 31, alleging that she had been improperly influenced in her decision to favor one company in a tender for the construction of a 3.7-mile tunnel in southern Albania, Reuters reported. SPAK delivered an additional charge for violating rules in a Tirana road construction project on Nov. 21, the date when Balluku was removed from office.
The day prior to her November court appearance, Balluku told the country’s parliament that the accusations against her constituted “mudslinging, insinuations, half-truths and lies.”
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As the second member of Rama’s cabinet to face corruption accusations since 2023, her charges have drawn the ire of Rama opponents.
Agim Nesho, former Albanian ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, told Fox News Digital that Balluku’s case demonstrates “the Rama government shows no sign of assuming moral responsibility or allowing justice the space to act independently. Instead, it appears intent on shielding Ms. Balluku, portraying the judiciary’s actions as an attack on the executive.”
Tirana’s ex-ambassador to Washington argued that “influencing the Constitutional Court may be an attempt to set a protective precedent — one that could prove useful if investigators ever seek to involve Mr. Rama himself in their investigations.”
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the emperor has no clothes, Nesho said, adding that Rama’s rule has amounted to “state capture” as the “lack of checks and balances has enabled a recurring system of corruption across multiple of his terms.”
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Nesho also claimed that Balluku had pointed to broader involvement of the Rama government in decision-making. Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, who went on the run after coming under SPAK investigation, has likewise alleged that Rama “directed all key decisions on tenders, finances, and public assets,” according to Nesho’s claims.
Ahmetaj’s accusations included allegations that Rama is involved with mafia bosses. Rama responded to these insinuations by saying Ahmetaj “should not be taken seriously. Albanian politics is not tainted by the mafia,” Balkanweb reported.
The U.S. has funded efforts for judicial reforms in Albania to aid its efforts toward accession into the European Union by cutting down on corruption. However, those reforms have led to legal backlogs that have drawn frustration and violence from the public.
Nesho said that “it is hard to see how a government that behaves like a banana republic gains accession to the E.U.” He said that “Albania is a living contradiction in terms of law and order.” While Nesho says Rama’s opposition has been “decimated by ‘lawfare’ and the compromising of legal institutions,” Rama remains in office despite “documented multi-billion-dollar corruption scandals, documented electoral thefts across multiple voting cycles, and, most concerning, documented links to international drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel.”
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Allegations that Rama is linked to the Sinaloa Cartel emerged after the prime minister met with Sinaloa-connected Luftar Hysa, who is sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Rama told an Albanian news outlet that he met with Hysa just once.
With Balluku’s removal, Nesho says that “public anger is directed not only at [her] but also at the irresponsible conduct of a regime that rules without accountability, abuses public property and finances, and faces no consequences despite society’s reaction.” Nesho said many in the country have given the prime minister the nickname “Ramaduro,” saying it’s “a direct comparison to the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.”
Rama’s press office told Fox News Digital that it declined to comment on Nesho’s allegations against him.
In May 2021, the State Department sanctioned former Prime Minister Sali Berisha over corruption allegations, which forbade him from traveling to the U.S. Fox News Digital asked the State Department whether it had plans to issue similar sanctions against Balluku.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “We have no comment on ongoing legal matters.”
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The U.S. Embassy in Tirana issued the same response to Fox News Digital when asked whether it would suspend Balluku’s visa as a result of her removal from office.
