Berisha meets senior OSCE officials: We need a technical government before it's too late

The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, held a meeting with the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Pia Kauma, and the Secretary General Roberto Montella.

At the meeting, where he was accompanied by the leader of the FRPD, Fatmir Mediu, and MP Albana Vokshi, Berisha stressed the need to create a technical government as soon as possible, before the situation worsens.

He argued that the parliament formed after the elections of May 11, 2025, does not reflect the real will of the Albanian people.

Furthermore, he requested the support of the OSCE to ensure that Albanians have the opportunity to vote in a free and fair manner.

The full statement of the DP:

Berisha expressed gratitude to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for its continued contribution to the protection of democratic values, as well as for its presence in Albania to monitor the elections of May 11, 2025.

During the meeting, Mr. Berisha informed President Kauma and Secretary General Montella about the serious and deteriorating situation in which Albania finds itself, as the first and only narco-state in Europe. He pointed out the massive cultivation of cannabis in Albania since 2015, as well as the recent approval, just a few weeks before the elections, of 138 licenses for the production of cannabis, mainly near the border areas. Criminal groups and cartels supported by Prime Minister Rama have received favors in exchange for their electoral support. These groups are also involved in the trafficking of hard drugs from Latin America, and some of them run cartels such as Sinaloa.

Further, Mr. Berisha explained the strengthening of drug cartels such as the Troplini/Poja network in the Durrës region, which completely controls the country’s largest port. The Çela cartel that controls the heroin highway coming from the east and other criminal groups that dominate most of Albania, supporting 28 candidates in 10 regions and 21 municipalities during the last elections, over 20 of whom will be part of the next parliament.

Regarding money laundering, Mr. Berisha warned that Albania has become the largest laundromat in Europe for laundering criminal money, Eurostat data showing that the construction index in Albania has tripled in recent years, the highest in Europe, while economic growth is around 3% per year, while the industrial sector, exports and agriculture have suffered continuous decline.

Berisha also highlighted wiretapping investigations by law enforcement authorities in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc., which have uncovered communications involving higher-level officials, with the greatest concentration of these suspicious conversations in the Prime Minister's office, which has a coordinator for coordinating the activities of drug cartels and criminal groups.

He raised deep concern that Prime Minister Rama has consistently violated the Electoral Code, including the massive misuse of public resources such as: forgiving fines two days before the elections worth 200 million euros,

organizing 4,255 public activities in four months, abusing his office,

the distribution of a bonus of 100 euros to about 760 thousand pensioners,

procurements oriented towards electoral benefits,

high-profile events such as the Giro d'Italia, etc.

He highlighted the return of a patronage system similar to communist structures through the misuse of personal data, where each civil servant was forced to secure 10–15 more voters to maintain his job, while 138 cannabis licenses were granted, 147 times more than the area allowed by law, which is only 200 hectares.

Berisha stressed that in these elections, the state and the ruling party merged into one, exercising intimidation, vote buying and controlling over 90% of the media. He added that all the Copenhagen criteria and other democratic conventions were violated.