Two days after the submission of the candidates’ lists for the next elections of the 25th of April by all the political parties, the U.S Ambassador Yuri Kim declared that some candidates may be disqualified after the vetting process. “There are three people that the U.S. Secretary of State has designated. I will not carry their names in my mouth, but you can find the record for yourself. On the list, on the issue of the list, the view of the United States is very clear and maybe undiplomatic on my part. I think parties have taken that into consideration; not all of them, but most of them. It’s now with the Central Election Commission, and it’s their job, along with the prosecutors, to vet these candidates,” said Kim, adding that it shouldn’t come as a surprise if “some candidates are disqualified after that process.”
The Ambassador further declared that the US has repeatedly called for clean candidates and the full implementation of the decriminalisation law. “This is not about whether the United States likes someone or doesn’t like someone. It’s about whether the Secretary of State has determined – after extensive research, information, and time – that someone is a threat to U.S security. And if someone is a threat to U.S security, I think it’s worthwhile for Albanian voters and Albanian authorities to consider whether this person could be a threat to your security.
After the U.S Ambassador, the EU Ambassador Soreca also wrote to Twitter that “It is now up to the Central Election Commission, in consultation with the General Prosecution office, to vet the candidates. Decriminalisation law must be fully applied and high integrity standards for all candidates must be met.”
