FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
After OLAF and EUROJUST submitted reports to SPAK, the investigation into the theft of 138 million euros in IPARD was blocked. Frida Krifca was promoted to Prime Minister, while farmers were left without support and European funds were stopped as punishment for unpunished corruption...
The European Union is not backing down from its decision to block funds for Albanian farmers, due to corruption and serious abuses found in the use of IPARD funds by the Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development (AZHBR). Millions of euros were given not for agriculture, but for non-agricultural businesses linked to the power structure, including oligarchs, traffickers and mayors.
This time, the EU has officially informed Prime Minister Edi Rama that Albania will not benefit from agricultural funds even for 2026, emphasizing that one of the main reasons is the impunity of abuses with 138 million euros of the IPARD fund for the period 2017–2021.
While it may be publicly stated that the funds are under investigation by SPAK and that the judiciary is independent, the facts show the opposite.
The Albanian government has not only failed to cooperate with OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) and EUROJUST, but initially also tried to block their access to official documentation of the AZHBR and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Only after constant pressure from Brussels did the government open the files, but did not file any criminal reports with SPAK and did not take any administrative measures to punish those responsible.
On the contrary, Prime Minister Edi Rama appointed former AZHBR director and former minister Frida Krifca as an advisor to the Prime Minister, while her close associates were placed in new positions in various ministries. To date, the government has not submitted an official report on this issue to the Council of Europe, as formally requested by the European Commission.
The inaction of the institutions and the political protection of the people involved, according to Brussels sources, prove that in this affair it is not Frida Krifca who is strong, but Prime Minister Edi Rama himself, who has directed and managed this robbery structure, distributing EU agricultural funds as loot to his clientele; for the construction of towers, hotels and resorts, and not for rural development. Among the beneficiaries are names such as Gjergj Luca, Tërmet Peçi, as well as others who have used farmers' money for investments in the most expensive coastal areas.
Precisely for this reason, this time the EU has not addressed SPAK, as it has lost confidence in the local investigation. Instead, it has chosen to address Edi Rama himself with a political decision: the funds remain blocked even in 2026, due to the deliberate delay of the investigations into the "Krifca-AZHBR" file.
It should be noted that since February and April 2023, OLAF and EUROJUST have submitted criminal reports to SPAK, accompanied by complete investigative files. But they have been left silent. According to "Pamfleti" sources, just 10 days after the reports, BKH began preliminary investigations, but within a month everything was blocked without any official notification or act.
On March 25, 2024, OLAF sent an official letter to the head of SPAK, Altin Dumani, requesting that the investigations into this file be closed by April 2024. But even after this direct warning, nothing has happened. The investigations have been frozen and the file is being kept blocked.
This silence is not a coincidence. According to the same sources, in the OLAF-EUROJUST files and in the AZHBR documentation, the direct implication of Prime Minister Edi Rama is clear, along with a list of oligarchs, traffickers, family members and high-ranking state officials. If SPAK were to allow a real investigation of this file, it would have to end up in the Prime Minister's office and then in court, which is unacceptable for the current power structure.
Therefore, due to the blocking of investigations by the government and SPAK, the EU has made a firm political decision: funds for agriculture will remain blocked even in 2026. And this time, it will not be the real culprits who will pay; but hundreds of thousands of Albanian farmers, who will be left without support, without investment and without hope for rural development. Because a handful of people chose to share millions as loot, instead of investing them in the lives and work of those who keep the land of this country standing./ Pamphlet
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