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US pressure is increasing, signaling a crucial period for the fight against organized crime and high-level corruption.
The Albanian economy is trapped between drug money and major corruption scandals, a situation that has alarmed international partners, especially the United States. As the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK) prepares to move into a new phase of crackdowns, international pressure has increased and signals a crucial period for the fight against organized crime and high-level corruption.
Regarding this, Elkier Bushkolaj stated on Syri TV that for years, Albania has become an unfriendly terrain for serious foreign investors from the US and Europe.
The entrepreneurial climate, according to him, has been poisoned by the injection of money of criminal origin.
Today, Washington has given clear signals that patience has run out.
According to Bushkolaj, the US State Department has launched an in-depth review of concessions and strategic investments in Albania, many of which are considered monopolies linked to certain political circles. Furthermore, the physical presence of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Tirana for almost three years demonstrates a direct commitment to monitoring and combating drug trafficking networks that have extended their activity from Latin America to the Balkans.
In this context, SPAK's activity is expected to intensify.
" The message after this visit was clear. Drug cartels and corruption. Apparently, the poisoning of the Albanian economy by drug trafficking money has already become a threat, we are saying, not only for the Balkans, but also for Europe in the long run. Albania today is sandwiched between drug trafficking money injected into the economy and corrupt affairs. So, if we read the position that comes, it becomes clear that it is almost all starting from the Aksh tenders to the PPPs, that is, those incinerator affairs. These affairs that have so far only brought financial bloodshed, have become a threat to the very climate of entrepreneurship in Albania, since it has been a long time since we have had important foreign enterprises, whether from the United States of America or from Europe, that find the ground to invest in Albania. The opposite has even happened, that they have been arbitrarily excluded from very important contracts, whether for the port of Porto Romano, or for road segments important, whose history has then produced, let's say, the Llogara tunnel file, or other files that are expected to be produced.
Apparently, the US State Department will, over the course of these three months, sift through a good portion of these concessions and a good portion of investments, mainly in the construction sector, but also those that are strategic investments, which were known to be the monopoly of Prime Minister Edi Rama," the journalist said.
He also added that another aspect is the issue of towers.
" It is an alarm raised mainly by international partners, especially the Belgians and the Italians, who have brought voluminous materials in relation to what is happening. I have the impression that now we are moving to another stage. If we have been attentive to read the messages of the American embassy over, let's say, the last four months, they have been oriented precisely in this direction. To strengthen cooperation to fight structured criminal groups with international activity, that is, with activity from Latin America, in Albania and in the countries of the European Union, and the fight against corruption. Even the last message has been to protect American investments in Albania, that is, from the influence or from the injection of dirty money into the economy. But what makes this whole story more serious is the message dated November 28, whether from President Trump, or from Mr. Rubio, the message to Albania, which for the sake of truth, for anyone who reads it and anyone who knows the developments of what is happening in this country in relation to economy and democracy, it was a regression for Albania and for the first time, we are saying, de facto, in quotes, the term narco-state was mentioned. So even though the term narco-state was not written, it was made to be understood that this is not a congratulatory message for a normal country that is seeking membership in the European Union.
Everyone is under the watch of SPAK, but at the moment it goes from the phase of seizures to the phase of seizures, I have the impression that the blow will have a domino effect. As we must be clear, Parutha, in parallel with these developments that we are dealing with in this studio, fiscal peace also passed here, for which both the American Chamber of Commerce, and the chambers of commerce associated with the European Union, and recently the IMF raised the alarm about money laundering. But, in parallel with these developments, there is also an important development related to the DEA. The DEA has had a physical office in Albania for three years, so we are saying from 2022, make no mistake and in 2023 it was finalized and this physical office during this time has served to collect data and has collected sufficient data to create a clear picture of what is happening with the Albanian economy. Apparently, Albania is in the focus of international partners due to the strategic position and strategic alliances that we have with the United States of America and we have a return of attention and an apparently unconditional support for law enforcement structures.
The focus is on the entire Balkans. They suffer from similar problems. Mainly Albania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, since Kosovo has other specifics, as well as North Macedonia and Montenegro are not so burdened in relation to these phenomena. These phenomena are mainly in Albania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. So, fiscal peace is not a project either to help entrepreneurship or to help the Albanian economy. Why was there no peace, for example, for those unpaid electricity bills? Or for water bills, which imprisoned thousands of citizens, and we have even had tragic cases when they lost their lives in prisons due to suicides. Why was a fiscal peace not used for them? For those ordinary citizens who had very minimal amounts in relation to this figure that are expected to benefit from these fiscal peace. " - the journalist added.
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