TIRANA, Sept. 23 – Albanian authorities are not seeking the ousting of the OSCE from Albania, a government spokesman said this week, after the publication of a letter from the foreign ministry to all public institutions asking them to report, limit and draw to a conclusion all projects with the organization.
The letter said Albania had made enough progress to where it no longer needed the assistance it once did from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Despite the public statement to the contrary, several government sources indicated Albanian officials are seething following the leakage last week of an OSCE report on accusations of corruption an ill-gained wealth for Albania’s top political leaders.
Neither the government nor the OSCE have denied the leaked documents’ authenticity.
The foreign ministry said its letter was used in order to recalculate the projects with the OSCE and look at the priorities, not as a response to the accusations in the report.
Authorities said however that they welcome all the OSCE reports and its assistance in different areas and they are looking to improve the cooperation with the OSCE and the other international institutions.
The leaked OSCE report shook the political establishment in Albania, as it was filled with allegations of massive wealth, corruption and criminal ties among members of the political class.
However, the head of the OSCE office in Albania, Ambassador Florian Rauning, said the leaked information was unauthorized and misleading and it does not represents OSCE’s official views.
“The summary was merely a collection of information from reports in the Albanian media and allegations circulating publicly. The presence did not verify the information used, as the purpose of the exercise was to obtain an overview of allegations, not to determine their truth,” Rauning said in a statement last week, expressing regret that this information was made public without authorization and “subject to misinterpretation and political manipulation.”
