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OP-ED

Edi Rama's bet against Albania

Politiko 2026-05-27 21:19:51

Gent Gaba

Government loyalists, with a certain perverse satisfaction, are now telling us that the parliamentary vote against SPAK’s request to lift Belinda Balluku’s immunity did not obstruct the IBAR process. And yet, both in the report itself and in the positions expressed by EU member states, it was made unmistakably clear that this very approach — which exposed Rama’s hypocrisy toward justice reform — remains a condition tied to the closing of negotiations.

In reality, the gamble being made by Rama and his circle is a gamble against Albania itself. It is the wager of a government that believes it can play roulette with European integration, place the public interest on the table, and buy time through parliamentary voting cards while leaving Albanians to pay the political cost. A malicious indulgence wrapped in the illusion of control: even though they fully understood the sensitivity of the act that effectively placed the former deputy prime minister above the law, they continue to defend that political disgrace with the stubbornness of the irrational, regardless of the consequences for the country.

Fortunately, however, the European Union’s willingness to give Albania a chance — also for geopolitical reasons — proved stronger than Rama’s willingness to obstruct integration. Because when faced with a choice between justice and political protection, he chose Belinda Balluku, himself, and impunity over integration.

Now the conditions are heavier, more concrete, and more political in the most European sense of the word: rule of law, genuine judicial independence, the fight against high-level corruption, functioning democratic institutions, elections free from pressure by patronage networks and partisan administration, free media, clean procurement procedures, control over money laundering, fair competition, and a public administration that serves citizens rather than the ruling party.

These conditions are not obstacles for Albania; they are levers for dismantling the electoral autocracy Rama has constructed under the mask of stability. Every European condition strikes at one pillar of this model: state capture, the use of public administration as an electoral machine, the transformation of Parliament into a notary of executive power, the political protection of the untouchables, the monopolization of public money, and pressure over public space itself.

The road ahead is therefore clear. Rama may continue buying time through parliamentary majorities at the expense of Albanians, but he cannot erase the meaning of that vote beneath clouds of propaganda. Sooner rather than later, he will face the political weight of that decision and the heavy conditionality imposed by the new phase into which the country has entered.

Germany’s position last night — particularly regarding immunity, once again concerning Balluku — deliberately delivered before the Rama–Kos press conference, resembled the mention of a rope in the house of a hanged man.

Fully aware of how that political performance would be marketed to an inattentive domestic audience as yet another “victory” for Rama, despite the challenges to the rule of law and the alarming level of corruption identified in the report under his rule, the Germans essentially told Albanians this: they will not make the Albanian people pay indefinitely for the mistakes of their government by leaving the country trapped in a permanent purgatory. But neither will they forget nor absolve Rama’s responsibilities. They have no intention of handing him the keys to Brussels with hands still stained by impunity.