TIRANA, Feb. 21 – Sali Berisha, a the former prime minister and retired leader of the Democratic Party, has lashed out at U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu, over allegations that Albania’s Prosecutor-General Adriatik Llalla had become an obstacle to the judiciary reform.
In a televised interview broadcast Tuesday evening, Berisha said Ambassador Lu has behaving like a politician and had taken stances that violated Albania’s Constitution.
“He acted like a politician in the dispute with Llalla,” Berisha said. “Lu asked the chief prosecutor to end investigations against Bankers Petroleum. This is unprecedented,” Berisha said.
Berisha questioned whether Washington supported Lu’s actions and implied the ambassador might be on a personal agenda.
“U.S. politics never supports a witch hunt. Lu is free to act like this because of Albania’s Prime Minister. Lu was called by his supervisor and was asked to not dare and do such things,” Berisha said.
He added EU Ambassador Romana Vlahutin also clearly supports Prime Minister Edi Rama.
“The lady in question is known for her unconditional support for the Albanian government,” Berisha said.
Last week, U.S. Ambassador Lu accused Albania’s prosecutor general of obstructing efforts to implement the judiciary reform.
According to Lu, Llalla had been against the justice reform and “for more than 18 months” had spoken against its implementation although U.S. and E.U. officials who had pushed hard for its approval in parliament and are now seeking its fast implementation.
Following Ambassador Lu’s comments, Prosecutor-General Adriatik Llalla’s office accused the ambassador of undiplomatic interference in the work of the institution and of personal revenge against Llalla.
U.S. Ambassador Lu and EU Ambassador Vlahutin have been key supporters of Albania’s long-awaited justice reform that will vet all judges and prosecutors for their professional proficiency, moral integrity and independence from the influence of the organized crime, corruption and political power.
Their role and insistence over ensuring support to a reform whose implementation will be supervised by internationals has been met with criticism by some segments of judiciary and politics.
Judiciary reform aims to out root corruption from one of the country’s most corrupt sectors and is crucial to Albania’s EU accession talks.
