Less than two weeks from the parliamentary elections, the U.S Ambassador Yuri Kim acknowledged that there are still names of concern in the candidate lists for MP. “Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt Palmer was here virtually last week and made clear that there are names of concern. They know who they are. The party leaders know who they are […] The Central Election Commission has to take a look. They have now referred 30 names to prosecutors for additional information,” declared Kim in an interview for Lutfi Dervishi at his talk show “Përballë” at RTSH. Talking about the high-ranking Albanian politicians and other officials blacklisted by the US, Kim said that “The United States has been clear about three names. We don’t do this lightly; this takes years of research; some of the information is available and everybody knows it; […] but I can say that it’s very serious and the Secretary of State does not sign his or her name to these designations easily,” said Kim. Asked whether the information was available to prosecutors, or to SPAK and other law enforcement officer, the U.S Ambassador responded by saying that the information regarding the names which are blacklisted by the US is “widely available,” and that “what’s lacking is courage”.
At the other hand, the Ambassador said also that there are some signals that things are starting to change. “I think that we have seen instances of courage now emerging. I think we need to see more. I’m confident that America’s investment in justice reform, in SPAK, is going to be worth it but this is a difficult moment,” said the Ambassador, adding that now the results are starting to be seen. “SPAK has issued their first annual report and in it, they report that they have so far made 588 persecutions, they have confiscated over 70 million-euro worth of illegal goods and possessions. They have investigated 746 individuals. They have sent many of those to trial and of those 114 so far had been convicted,” said Kim.
The Ambassador urged the Albanian citizens to express their will in the next elections by voting. “Albanian people around the country, when I meet them, they tell me that they are sick and tired of corruption; they are sick and tired of impunity; they are sick and tired of criminals who are sitting in Parliament. Well, this is your moment. You show me through your actions, you show yourself through your actions that you mean it. It can’t be the case that you ask me my opinion as the United States, I give it to you, and then you keep doing the same thing. If you want change, vote for change. If you want criminals, vote for criminals,” said the Ambassador. During the interview, Kim talked about the need of making sure that the rules and process are fair and transparent. “Do we have a preferred candidate for winning? No, we don’t. That’s not the position of the United States. What we care about is institutions and processes,” said the Ambassador, who further confirmed that the American Embassy alone will have around 23 or 24 teams that will be spread all over Albania to monitor the elections.
The US Ambassador talked also about the military training Defender 21, which was planned before the election date was set. “It’s going to be up to 6,000 troops coming in. This will involve also about 26 different countries also contributing troops and assets and I believe that the exercises will take place in about 30 different sites across 12 countries in central Europe and in the Western Balkans.” According to the Ambassador, some very important military leaders will come to observe the exercises taking place in Albania, and some civilians as well.
