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The real debate is whether the new US administration will have the same approach and attention to SPAK as the previous administration, or will it adopt President Trump's positions on justice reform in the US.
There has been widespread joy throughout the opposition, and beyond, over the termination of SPAK's funding by the US. SPAK itself has also been involved in this uproar, explaining that it is funded by the Albanian state budget and is not affected by US funding.
Opponents of SPAK insist that it is funded by the US and cite as an argument the fact that OPDAT officials, who monitor SPAK and its experience exchange programs, have been crucial to its functioning.
In fact, both sides have a little bit of right. In fact, SPAK is financed by the Albanian state from beginning to end, but the political power has been with the US, and precisely with those OPDAT officers who monitor SPAK and who often hint that they also give American directives to it. But above all, their power stems from the support of the State Department and senior American officials.
So, the issue is not just about finances. The real debate is whether the new US administration will have the same approach and attention to SPAK as the previous administration, or will it adopt President Trump's positions on justice reform in the US. This is an aspect that could have consequences.
If the US shows indifference towards SPAK and justice reform, while SPAK continues to declare that it is funded by the state budget as an independent institution, this will come across as a message that "we don't care what the US thinks, as long as we have the support of the Albanian government". This, in turn, would diminish the political power that SPAK has had through American support – not simply because of funds, but because of political support.
In fact, even SPAK's opponents are happy not because of any funding cutoff, but because they perceive this as a withdrawal of American political support. If it were just a question of funding, they would even be willing to offer SPAK their own funds, just so that it would not function as before.
Therefore, the debate is not as superficial as it seems. It is not about money, but about the political support that SPAK has received from the US. This support has been so great that even when SPAK has exceeded its powers or acted arbitrarily, it has always had as a shield the justification: "We have orders from the US".
For this reason, the main focus is on whether the US will keep its distance from SPAK or continue to support it as before. And this will not be understood by the amount of funds, but by the stance that the US administration will take towards Justice Reform, whether it will still consider it a national security issue for the US or not. Of course, not as much as Greenland.
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