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U Department of State has so far refused to comment on a growing corruption crisis engulfing the Balkan nation of Albania, a vital US ally in the region.
Following the decision of an Albanian court to remove Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku from her position over allegations that she interfered in two construction bids, Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama took the issue to the country’s Constitutional Court, which on Friday reinstated Balluku until a “final decision” could be made, according to media reports.
The Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure (SPAK) issued criminal charges against Balluku on October 31, alleging that she was improperly influenced in her decision to favor a company in a tender to build a 3.7-mile tunnel in southern Albania, Reuters reported. SPAK issued an additional charge for violating the rules in a Tirana road construction project on November 21, the date when Balluku was removed from office.
The day before her November court appearance, Balluku told the country’s parliament that the charges against her amounted to “mudslinging, insinuations, half-truths and lies.”
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Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama, right, and Albania’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, left, attend a press conference in the Shpirag region of Berat province, Albania, on August 23, 2023. (Albanian Prime Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
As the second member of Rama’s cabinet to face corruption charges since 2023, his accusations have drawn the ire of Rama’s opponents.
Agim Nesho, former Albanian ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, told Fox News Digital that Balluku’s case shows “the Rama government shows no sign of assuming moral responsibility or allowing justice the space to act independently. Instead, it seems intent on shielding Mrs. Balluku, portraying the actions of the judiciary as an attack on the executive.”
The ex-ambassador of Tirana in Washington argued that “influencing the Constitutional Court may be an attempt to establish a protective precedent – one that could be useful if the investigators still seek to involve Mr. Rama himself in their investigations.”
“It became more and more clear that the emperor has no clothesNesho said, adding that Rama’s rule was “state capture” as the “lack of checks and balances allowed a recurrent system of corruption in many of his terms.”
A group of protesters gather in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Tirana, Albania, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama following the arrest of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj on corruption charges on February 11, 2025. (Olsi Shehu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Nesho also claimed that Balluku had indicated a wider involvement of the Rama government in the decision. Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, allegedly on the run after his SPAK investigation, also claimed that Rama “directed all key decisions on procurement, finances and public assets,” according to Nesho’s claims.
Ahmetaj’s charges include allegations that Rama is involved with mafia bosses. Rama responded to these insinuations by saying that Ahmetaj “should not be taken seriously. Albanian politics is not imported by the mafia.” Balkanweb said.
The United States has funded judicial reform efforts in Albania to aid its efforts toward European Union membership by reducing corruption. However, these reforms have led to legal delays that have drawn frustration and violence from the public.
Nesho said that “it is difficult to see how a government that behaves like a banana republic will gain EU membership.” He said: “Albania is a living contradiction in terms of law and order.”
While Nesho says that Rama’s opposition has been “decimated by the ‘law’ and the compromise of legal institutions”, Rama remains in office despite “documented multi-billion dollar corruption scandals, documented electoral theft in multiple voting cycles, and, more worryingly, documented ties to international drug cartels like the Sinaloa cartel.”
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People gather during a demonstration held in Tirana, the capital of Albania, in support of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who was under house arrest from December 2023 to November 2024 on corruption charges and is under judicial supervision by the Albanian Special Court of Appeal for Corruption and Organized Crime. (Olsi Shehu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Allegations that Rama is linked to the Sinaloa Cartel emerged after the prime minister met with Luftar Hysa, connected to Sinaloa, who is sanctioned by the US Treasury Department. Rama told an Albanian media that he met with Hysa only once.
With the elimination of Balluku, Nesho says: “Public anger is directed not only at (her), but also at the irresponsible conduct of a regime that rules without accountability, abuses public property and finances, and does not face consequences despite the reaction of society.”
Nesho said many in the country have given the prime minister the nickname “Ramaduro,” saying it is “a direct comparison to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.”
Rama’s press office told Fox News Digital that he declined to comment on Nesho’s allegations against him.
In May 2021, the The State Department sanctioned the former Prime Minister Sali Berisha on corruption allegations, which banned him from traveling to the United States Fox News Digital asked the State Department if it intended to issue similar sanctions against Balluku.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “We have no comment on ongoing legal matters.”
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The US embassy in Tirana issued the same response to Fox News Digital when asked if it would suspend Balluku’s visa as a result of his removal from office.
