Sanctions on Berisha May Help Albania’s Democrats, Experts Say

After the news that the US has barred former Democratic Party leader and Albanian President and PM Sali Berisha, experts told BIRN that his opposition centre-right party might benefit from this decision in the long run.

They say it offers the party a chance to free itself from Berisha's influence and legacy. The party is currently in a dilemma after losing the last general election to the Socialists on 25 April for a third time.

"The DP will now have the opportunity to redefine itself and seek a new raison d'etre, away from the connotations of Berisha's influence and legacy," Edlira Gjoni, a communications expert based in Tirana, told BIRN.

"The [US] decision will certainly affect DP supporters in Albania, but in the long run it will positively create a new image of the party from an international perspective. The DP will be able to reinvent itself as a more modern, reliable, trustworthy and good partner party," she continued.

Afrim Krasniqi, who heads the Institute for Political Studies, a think tank, said the impact of the State Department decision will be manifold, but if the DP distances itself from its former boss, it will come out all the stronger.

"If the DP adheres to the ethical principles it has stated in its statutory documents, distancing itself from … Berisha, then it may have several months of internal debates, but within a few years it will become stronger, more credible and more democratic," he said.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday that the US was barring Berisha and some family members from entering the United States "due to involvement in significant corruption".

Berisha reacted in a long statement, saying that, "during 30 years in politics there has never...