Berisha at the 'Martens Centre' meeting: EU integration should be based on merit, not lobbying

The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, participated today in the annual Cooperation and Planning seminar, organized by the 'Wilfried Martens' Center for European Studies, known as the official think tank of the European People's Party (EPP), of which the Freedom Foundation of the Democratic Party FLD is a member.

The annual meeting, which is being held for the first time in a non-EU country, brings together experts and leading figures from the EPP and the Martens Centre's member foundations.

During the meeting with the former Prime Minister of Slovakia, Mikuláš Dzurinda, currently the President of the 'Martens Centre', the leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, presented a complete overview of the political, institutional and social situation in Albania, raising serious concerns regarding the leadership of the country by the current government.

During the meeting that took place at the 'Melia' hotel in Durrës, the leader of the Democratic Party (DP) Sali Berisha expressed deep gratitude to the EPP and the 'Martens Center' for their ever-increasing commitment to addressing the Albanian reality. He praised the cooperation with international partners, including the International Republican Institute, the Swedish Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, KAS and the Foundation for Freedom and Democracy, for their valuable support in the process of modernization and digitalization of the DP's structures. Berisha emphasized that renewal is the motto of the DP and that this transformation will strengthen the party's capacities as the only democratic and European alternative for Albania.

The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, during his speech, also recalled the vigorous engagement of the opposition during the recent period, including the organization of up to two or three protests per week, as well as intensive parliamentary and civic activities. All this engagement has had as its main goal the awareness of public opinion and the international community on two major scandals, that of the Balluku scandal, which directly affects the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Rama government; and that of the AKSHI, which raises serious questions about the integrity of the state digital infrastructure.

According to Berisha, Edi Rama's categorical refusal to lift Balluk's immunity constitutes undeniable evidence of state capture and institutional refusal to face justice.

During his speech, Berisha stated that the DP has documented with evidence that Edi Rama has built an organized system of vote buying and electoral manipulation, mobilizing state resources in the service of party interests. The instruments of this system include direct distribution of social assistance and tax facilities worth hundreds of millions of euros, bonuses and social schemes targeted at vulnerable groups, mainly the elderly, schemes such as the AZHBR, described by the DP as organized theft of European funds and direct cooperation with organized crime and drug trafficking cartels for vote buying and falsification of the electoral process. Berisha stated that the DP demands from the European community and international institutions an independent and comprehensive investigation of the electoral process in Albania.

Speaking at the roundtable, DP leader Sali Berisha expressed deep concern and maximum alarm regarding the transformation of Albania into a narco-state. He noted that the mistaken tolerance of some foreign diplomats towards the cultivation and trafficking of cannabis, under the pretext that it was a soft drug, has directly led to a significant escalation of the trafficking of hard drugs originating from all over the world, the consolidation of criminal structures within state institutions, a real and documented risk to European regional security.

Turning a blind eye was not neutrality, it was passive complicity, opposition leader Sali Berisha stressed, calling on the EU and the US to reconsider their approach to the Rama government.

The leader of the Democrats, Sali Berisha, stated that the DP unreservedly supports Albania's European integration, but maintains a clear and principled position: the enlargement process must be based exclusively on merit and on real and verifiable transformations, which include strengthening the rule of law and the independence of institutions, the full implementation of the standards and reforms required by the EU, and the transparency of the electoral process and respect for the free will of citizens.

According to him, the DP categorically opposes any tendency to lower standards or circumvent integration conditions in order to legitimize the Rama government.

DP Chairman Sali Berisha spoke at the roundtable organized by the 'Wilfried Martens' Center for European Studies, also about the College of Europe scandal.

Berisha has described the College of Europe scandal in Tirana as one of the most flagrant cases of lobbying financed with Albanian public money. This scandal, linked to the name of former EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, currently under investigation by Belgian authorities, casts a heavy shadow over the entire European decision-making process for Albania. The Democratic Party, said its leader Sali Berisha, demands a full and transparent investigation, both in Brussels and in Tirana.