FLASH
Shkruar nga Federico Giuliani
Italian media continue to pay attention to political developments in Albania. Today, they write that Prime Minister Edi Rama, described as "Melon's friend", is facing a wave of protests and new accusations, while the "Edi Rama Files" report and SPAK investigations have once again placed him at the center of public debate.
Now a bad smell is blowing for Edi Rama. The Albanian Prime Minister, until a few years ago one of the most fashionable politicians in circulation, is facing a serious issue that risks damaging his image. In fact, despite many partial denials, his image has already been shattered. It all started with a seemingly ordinary piece of news: the government led by Rama has granted the development rights of the island of Sazan and the protected coastal area of Zvërnec to foreign capital.
The buyers, a group of investors linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, respectively Donald Trump's son-in-law and daughter, intend to carry out a gigantic tourist (and luxury) project in these two areas. The result? The Albanian people have taken to the streets to protest against the negligence of the socialist leader, whom they accuse of wanting to sell part of the country to the global oligarchy. The so-called Flamingo Revolution has been going on for weeks. The national manifestation of July 4 brought thousands of people to the streets, showing that the protest continues to mobilize the crowds as on the first day. The protesters' demand? A political change that, first and foremost, should start with Rama's resignation.
Rama, for the moment, is resisting, refusing to resign and trying to refute the accusations, partly by delegitimizing the protesters and partly by raising the fear of an alleged hybrid war against Tirana as an argument. Meanwhile, the organization Progressive International has published a dossier that describes in detail the alleged system within which the Albanian prime minister would operate. The dossier is called the Edi Rama Files and accuses Rama of being at the center of a consolidated system of speculation, expropriations and corruption to the detriment of Albanian citizens.
According to various documents reviewed by the authors of the investigation, the Zvërnec resort would represent only part of a network of real estate that would extend from the Albanian coast to the capital. A network that, according to the allegations, was directly authorized by Edi Rama. The Edi Rama Files have focused attention on the activity of the National Council of Territory, the body that issues authorizations for all major construction projects in the country. The president of this body is Rama.
"Every resort on the coast and every tower built in the cities has required Edi Rama's personal signature. Without his seal, nothing is built," the report states.
The problem, beyond everything, is what the Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) allegedly discovered: a vast network of drug trafficking and money laundering that would pass precisely through the real estate sector.
According to the allegations, every construction project that is currently under investigation by SPAK has received the personal approval of the prime minister. Also noteworthy is the status of Strategic Investor, used for all major projects in the country, a legal status created by Rama, proposed by him in parliament and which is now under his direct control as the chairman of the Committee for Strategic Investments. "Once this status is obtained, the previous landowners can no longer oppose the project in court," the report says. Not only that: the Committee for Strategic Investments (for the record: headed by Edi Rama and with his signature) is said to have granted the same status to the company Atlantic Incubation Partners, a company linked to Jared Kushner behind the Zvërnec project. According to SPAK, the land of this company would have been secured thanks to a... forged document.
SPAK documents, for example, link the Zvërnec lands to a person named Artur Shehu, originally from Vlora, residing in Florida, but with economic interests along the Albanian coast. In January 2019, European authorities monitored a meeting in Aruba, during which Shehu and others reportedly discussed “the logistics of cocaine trafficking in Latin America and real estate investments in Albania, potentially financed with illicit funds and supported by political authorities,” Progressive International further explained.
Following the flow of money, SPAK has expanded its investigation far beyond Zvërnec. The same network, the same names and the same method would also appear at the Garden Building and Colonnade towers in central Tirana, in an area near the Air Albania stadium and at the Green Coast resort in Palasë. And Rama? He has attacked SPAK and prosecutors, accusing them of "getting out of control". SPAK's investigation? Still ongoing. Protests? Also. /Adapted from " Mow "
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