TIRANA, July 23, 2022 – Albania’s former prime minister and current opposition leader, Sali Berisha, says the United Kingdom has included him in a list of officials sanctioned over ties to corruption and organized crime, meaning he is barred from visiting Great Britain.
The British government had earlier in the week said it had sanctioned several people in Albania but without mentioning any names. Ruling Socialist Party officials are also likely on the list, experts note.
Berisha himself chose to make his case public, but denied any wrongdoing and urged the British government to make whatever evidence it has public and to file it with Albanian prosecutors. He added the decision was a “continuation of slander and lies” sponsored by Albanian Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama and “corrupt lobbying” by him and American philanthropist George Soros.
The letter given to Berisha by UK officials said he had connections with criminal groups, which he used for corrupt enrichment and for realizing his political ambitions, posing a danger to public safety in the United Kingdom and Albania.
Berisha told a press conference the aim is to make Albania a country without an opposition, “from which all wealth is stripped, and from which Albanians run away quickly, and to keep the most corrupt government in Europe in power.”
He added: “No one other than me has denounced without stopping, without compromise, by name, without taking into account any personal or family danger, the criminals, the organized criminal groups of this country, and their connections with the government.”
The British government issued a statement explaining its decision.
“This week, we took disruptive action against several Albanian individuals with well publicised and documented ties to criminality and corruption. This is the first wave of a set of actions intended to encourage accountability and end impunity,” said Sir Stuart Peach, the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Western Balkans. “The UK has a range of tools available to disrupt individuals with ties to criminality and corruption, including immigration and economic disruption. The details of these actions may not always be public.”
London’s decision follows a similar one by Washington about a year ago about Berisha and his family members, whom the U.S. Department of State announced in May of last year the ban on entry into the territory of the United States due to “serious acts of corruption” and “undermining of democracy.”
Since then Berisha has retaken the helm at the main opposition Democratic Party after the previous leadership tried to expel it. Repeated votes and rallies show Berisha enjoys the support of the majority of Democratic Party members.
Some analysts have expressed concern with the action against Berisha, who had been out of power for 10 years, while the current government has faced many scandals over the same period and no similar-level government officials have been sanctioned, with the exception of back bench MPs and a mayor.
Socialist officials, including Prime Minister Rama, are now using the Western sanctions to delegitimize the opposition, including stripping it of the right to attend EU accession negotiations, departing from a long established practice.
Genc Pollo, who used to serve as a minister in Bersha’s cabinet, said the decisions to sanction Berisha have been not convincing in the individual case without providing evidence and are not proportionate considering the current context in the country. He added they are not helpful for democracy and the rule of law in respect of the role of the democratic opposition.
“It is formally somewhat more problematic for the rule of law and democracy because, unlike in previous years, it targets the official leader of the political opposition (not captured by power); from a government turned into a regime of state capture, high corruption and organized crime,” Pollo wrote on social media,
He added that when presenting the sanctions, the British special envoy speaks in the language of the Democratic Party about vote-buying, the government’s ties to crime, high corruption and other issues.
