Yuri Kim

Few people in the US or abroad took notice of President Joe Biden's memorandum to combat corruption globally -until the Administration began to declare former world leaders personae non grata.

In Albania, the US had repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialist government of corruption, calling it "pervasive in all branches of government," especially in the judiciary.

The former leader of Albania's opposition Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, on Wednesday claimed he had collected enough signatures to provoke new elections in the party, in a clear challenge to the current leader Lulzim Basha.

The refugees fleeing the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan were flown in to Tirana airport on Friday morning, where they received medical check-ups before being sent onwards to the city of Durres.

The International Monitoring Operation, created to oversee a vetting process in Albania launched under EU and US pressure in 2017, issued a decision saying Tirana chief prosecutor Elizabeta Imeraj "has significantly jeopardised public trust in the judicial system" and should be removed from the post.

US President Joe Biden speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, June 2, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/Samuel Corum/POOL

"With this designation, I am reaffirming the need for accountability and transparency in Albania's democratic institutions, government processes, and the actions of Albanian public officials," Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in the press release.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has officially denied a request for entry in to the US by former Albanian president Sali Berisha.

"Today, I am announcing the public designation of Sali Berisha, former President, Prime Minister and Member of Parliament of Albania, due to his involvement in significant corruption," Blinken said in a statement. 

After winning an unprecedented third mandate to govern Albania, Edi Rama's Socialist Party has turned its attention to its only rival who currently has a senior institutional position, President Ilir Meta.

The US Ambassador to Tirana, Yuri Kim, has put fresh pressure on Albanian parties to vet their lists of candidates submitted to the Central Election Commission, CEC, ahead of the April 25 elections, suggesting some should be disqualified.

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday dismissed claims by former judge Altina Xhoxhaj that her rights to a fair trial and to respect for private and family life were violated in 2018 when she was fired from the Albanian Constitutional Court after an investigation showed she owned properties whose cost could not be justified by her income.