Voice from the Council of Europe: Albania, a safe haven for drug money laundering and a threat to Europe

DP MP Albana Vokshi denounced at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that Albania has become the main center for drug money laundering, which poses a serious threat to European security and the economy.

According to Vokshi, deep corruption and the capture of the state by criminal interests have turned the country into a "haven" for organized crime. Vokshi stressed that billions of euros of illicit wealth are recycled in construction, while most apartments remain empty.

She called on the Council of Europe for urgent investigations and strengthening the fight against organized crime.

"Recent investigations by Radio France and the German newspaper Die Zeit confirm what many Albanians see every day with their own eyes: Albania has become a major center for laundering drug money, serving international trafficking networks that operate in many European Union countries. One of the largest American media outlets, Fox News, just two days ago called the Albanian Prime Minister "Ramaduro."

There is a growing concern. Criminal groups no longer have a hard time legitimizing their profits. Albania solves this problem for them, offering an easy way to launder and recycle illicit wealth through construction projects worth billions of euros.

But this is not just about corruption. It is about the total capture of the Albanian state by criminal interests.

Building permits are not granted on the basis of merit or the market, but as political rewards, often to entities that do not even have the minimum capital required. In most cases, the real actors behind these projects are criminal networks. And the person who authorizes the permits is the Prime Minister himself. If you come to Tirana today, it is full of high-rise buildings, many more are under construction, and others have received permits. Billions of euros are spent on construction every year. But over 40% of the apartments in these buildings are empty. In Tirana, the price per square meter has exceeded many EU cities: 3,000, 5,000, there are now apartments for 10,000 euros per square meter. I cannot afford these apartments. Albanians cannot afford them. If I take out a loan, it will take me 50 to 100 years to repay it. So who buys them?

What the EU once banned as a formal fiscal amnesty now appears to be being implemented in silence: a secret pact between politics and organized crime.

As Die Zeit writes, even international architects invited by Prime Minister Rama have expressed concern about who will buy these towers, and whether they are actually serving to legitimize money laundering.

Why do you raise this concern? Because it is not just an issue for Albania.

This is not only destroying the Albanian economy, but is undermining European financial integrity. When these criminal funds are laundered in Albania, they re-enter the EU, distorting markets and undermining fair competition. This is a direct threat to the rule of law across our continent.

Meanwhile, Albania's population is declining dramatically, the population is aging.

A government controlled by trafficking interests cannot guarantee either democracy or stability. These interests will quickly produce clashes, impunity, and regional destabilization.

Therefore, I call on this Assembly and the Council of Europe to act without delay: to investigate the origin of capital in the construction boom in Albania, to examine political-criminal connections at the highest levels of government, and to support awareness-raising in the fight against organized crime.

"The longer we remain silent, the greater the damage will be — not only for Albania, but also for the values ​​we claim to defend throughout Europe and the transatlantic community,"  Vokshi declared.