The U.S. State Department remains tight-lipped on an escalating corruption scandal in Albania, a key ally in the Balkans.
After an Albanian court ousted Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku over claims of meddling in construction tenders, socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama escalated the matter to the Constitutional Court. On Friday, the court temporarily reinstated Balluku, pending a “final decision,” according to media outlets.
The Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure (SPAK) filed a criminal indictment against Balluku on October 31, accusing her of favoritism in awarding a contract for a 3.7-mile tunnel project in southern Albania, as reported by Reuters. On November 21, the date of her removal, SPAK added another charge related to a road construction project in Tirana.
A day before her court appearance in November, Balluku addressed the nation’s parliament, dismissing the allegations as “mudslinging, insinuations, half-truths, and lies.”
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku attended a press conference in Berat province’s Shpirag region on August 23, 2023. (Credit: Albanian Prime Ministry / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Balluku is the second member of Rama’s cabinet to be embroiled in corruption claims this year, fueling criticism from political adversaries.
Agim Nesho, former Albanian ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, told Fox News Digital that Balluku’s case demonstrates “the Rama government shows no sign of assuming moral responsibility or allowing justice the space to act independently. Instead, it appears intent on shielding Ms. Balluku, portraying the judiciary’s actions as an attack on the executive.”
Tirana’s ex-ambassador to Washington argued that “influencing the Constitutional Court may be an attempt to set a protective precedent — one that could prove useful if investigators ever seek to involve Mr. Rama himself in their investigations.”
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the emperor has no clothes, Nesho said, adding that Rama’s rule has amounted to “state capture” as the “lack of checks and balances has enabled a recurring system of corruption across multiple of his terms.”
TIRANA, ALBANIA FEBRUARY 11: A group of protesters gathers 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 over corruption allegations on Feb, 11, 2025. (Photo by Olsi Shehu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Nesho also claimed that Balluku had pointed to broader involvement of the Rama government in decision-making. Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, who went on the run after coming under SPAK investigation, has likewise alleged that Rama “directed all key decisions on tenders, finances, and public assets,” according to Nesho’s claims.
Ahmetaj’s accusations included allegations that Rama is involved with mafia bosses. Rama responded to these insinuations by saying Ahmetaj “should not be taken seriously. Albanian politics is not tainted by the mafia,” Balkanweb reported.
The U.S. has funded efforts for judicial reforms in Albania to aid its efforts toward accession into the European Union by cutting down on corruption. However, those reforms have led to legal backlogs that have drawn frustration and violence from the public.
Nesho said that “it is hard to see how a government that behaves like a banana republic gains accession to the E.U.” He said that “Albania is a living contradiction in terms of law and order.” While Nesho says Rama’s opposition has been “decimated by ‘lawfare’ and the compromising of legal institutions,” Rama remains in office despite “documented multi-billion-dollar corruption scandals, documented electoral thefts across multiple voting cycles, and, most concerning, documented links to international drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel.”
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 Dec. 2023 to Nov. 2024 on corruption charges and is currently under judicial supervision by the Albanian Special Appeal Court for Corruption and Organized Crime (GJPAKKO). (Olsi Shehu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Allegations that Rama is linked to the Sinaloa Cartel emerged after the prime minister met with Sinaloa-connected Luftar Hysa, who is sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Rama told an Albanian news outlet that he met with Hysa just once.
With Balluku’s removal, Nesho says that “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 faces no consequences despite society’s reaction.” Nesho said many in the country have given the prime minister the nickname “Ramaduro,” saying it’s “a direct comparison to the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.”
Rama’s press office told Fox News Digital that it declined to comment on Nesho’s allegations against him.
In May 2021, the State Department sanctioned former Prime Minister Sali Berisha over corruption allegations, which forbade him from traveling to the U.S. Fox News Digital asked the State Department whether it had plans to issue similar sanctions against Balluku.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “We have no comment on ongoing legal matters.”
The U.S. Embassy in Tirana issued the same response to Fox News Digital when asked whether it would suspend Balluku’s visa as a result of her removal from office.
