In the muddy waters of political Tirana, one of the main figures of CDU/CSU party landed with a serious critique towards the government. The German MP, Johann David Wadephul earned the focus of media and Albanians due to his latest statements which reprimanded PM Rama for his abuse of power. The direct sentences in his statements pushed Rama to talk about a good friend and an unwavering European, whom this time has disappointed him.

The direct statements maybe have shuttered the fake foundation of PM Rama. The country didn’t have such kind of direct statement towards its leaders since the black year 1997.

Threatening Mr. Rama that if he continues with his gimmick and rebuttal of the June 5, agreement this could lead to a suspension of negotiation for an ascension of Albania to EU.

As PM Rama describes Mr. Wadephul, he is not a common politician whom can be treated or mocked so easily. A careful investigation to his career done from lapsi.al uncover a rich past of CDU-CSU deputy.

A very close ally of Mrs. Merkel, Johann David Wadephul is considered one of the brains whom carved the foreign policy of Germany beside Mrs. Merkel and her other protégé and EU chief Von der Leyen.

A former lawyer from the city of Kiel in the south of the state Schleswig-Holstein, has been part of the CDU-CSU for four decades. One of the most notorious members of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, and focused mainly with the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Iran, Russia, Belarus and, of course, the Western Balkans.

Unlike his colleague, Krichbaum, Mr. Wadephul didn’t articulate himself from the beginning in criticism towards Rama regime.

His balances are clear not only due to the phrase spoked out of Rama mouth during his last conference, but from Mr. Wadephul public statement. He opposed from the beginning the way which the opposition took to fold their political mandates in the parliament, urging it: "Do not close the door in eternity."

He lauded several decisions of Rama’s government, such as the one to open the country for the reception of refugees. Although considered from many as a move that PM Rama took as a blink of an eye to Germany gaining back the opening of negotiations. Wadephul stated several times that Germany is in favour of Albania in this process and that it is making every effort to persuade France not to use its veto to open negotiations.

Although coming from the sister party of PD, a Christian democrat, Rama did not count him as an enemy. However, it seems that this utopic relationship broke down sometime in the spring of last year. After Mr. Wadephul more than once realised that what was happening in Albania wasn’t connected simply with chronic problems of a transitional democracy, but a clear attempt from Rama to install a one-party regime in Albania.

After President Meta declared that the so-called elections of June 30, 2019 are dictatorial one, Mr. Wadephul declared: “Elections without the participation of the opposition are problematic in the democratic aspect. Therefore, all options must be put on the table that guarantee citizens real opportunities to vote in local elections. This includes extraordinary measures, such as postponing the date of local elections. "The highest goal must be the unequivocal return to democratic procedures and respect for the standards of the rule of law in elections."

Alongside with his German MP colleagues, Christian Schmidt, offered their mediation for the local election crisis. Only to be faced with Rama refusal and slamming in their face of the door by mono-party election.

It seems this is the last moments in which the number two of CDU CSU was convinced that Rama wasn’t the man he thought and so decided to toughen his and his party stances. So, he opened the way to become the pivot of the electoral reform agreement between the majority and the opposition, convinced that the latter could no longer stay out of the system.

But even Rama has to make his moves, so in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic he decided to provoke the fragile consensus with the opposition, attacking and destroying the National Theatre Building in a full state of emergency. Provoking also Mr. Wadephul reaction which for the first time wasn’t balanced as the previous one.

He labelled this hasty and violent act, accompanied by a rhetorical question: "Were my political opponents of the various parliaments right when they refused to open negotiations with Albania?"

It seems PM Rama has crossed several red lines in Berlin after his overthrowing of the June 5 agreement with his gimmicky game of the parliamentary opposition and their request.  Mr. Wadephul is considered one of the closest allies to Chancellor Merkel, which clearly follows the politics of Mrs. Merkel in Western Balkans. In so far, we cannot see them as decoupling in their attitude towards Albania. Some days before Chancellor Merkel in her statement before the European Parliament differentiated Albania from North Macedonia in their road towards EU and a possible first intergovernmental meeting.  

This makes it clear that the statement from Mr. Wadephul are not mere words, but clearly, they reflect the attitude of the German Chancellor and the Head of European Commission, Mrs. Von der Leyen.

And above all those are words of a CDU-CSU members which was known firstly as a friend of Albanians and mostly of Rama, as the later clearly admits. It seems the acts of Albanian PM are blatantly so anti-western value that even Mr. Wadephul has changed his mind and started to threaten a wannabe autocrat like Rama.