Rama Defies the US, Sits Balluku Beside VanHorn! Prime Minister: Corruption Allegations Have Become Fashionable. China Is Also Interested in Us

Prime Minister Edi Rama, following the blocking of Belinda Balluku’s arrest, has also defied the United States of America. After seating his deputy, who is under investigation for alleged abuses in public tenders, beside the US Chargé d’Affaires in Tirana, Rama also sent a message to SPAK, dismissing corruption allegations as a “fashionable” accusation. The Albanian prime minister did not stop there: while presenting an investment by an American company, he drew the attention of US representatives to his cooperation with Middle Eastern countries and to China’s strong interest in Albania.

SYRI TV

Prime Minister Edi Rama has challenged not only SPAK, which is seeking the arrest of Belinda Balluku, but also representatives of the United States of America. In defending his deputy, accused of abuses amounting to hundreds of millions of euros, Rama put US officials in an awkward position, despite their repeated support for SPAK’s efforts to hold corrupt officials accountable.

At the presentation of the American company CWP’s wind park project in the Tropoja area, the Albanian government seated Belinda Balluku next to US Chargé d’Affaires Nancy VanHorn. Through the use of parliamentary majority power, Rama has blocked the lifting of Balluku’s immunity and, consequently, her arrest.

After a notably cold greeting, Prime Minister Rama did not spare irony toward SPAK’s corruption allegations, challenging the United States by pointing out that, in this case, the project had been awarded to an American company.

“The word corruption is like fashionable shoes, if someone doesn’t say it, it’s as if they’re not in fashion. In this sector, that word has received continuous responses. Americans in the private sector can testify to that,” Rama said.

He also reminded US representatives and American influences in the Balkans of his cooperation with Arab countries and of China’s interest in Albania.

“I don’t believe that a decade ago anyone could have imagined Albania becoming a partner with the United Arab Emirates and Italy. If Albania were not potentially important, the Chinese would not have set their sights on it or considered Albania the honey pot of all Europe.”

Beyond the efforts of the government’s propaganda apparatus to place Belinda Balluku alongside the American official, the evident coolness and American distancing from corruption in the infrastructure and energy sectors were unmistakable.

https://www.syri.net/politike/854615/rama-sfidon-shba-ne-ul-ballukun-krah-vanhorn-kryeministri-akuzat-per-korrupsion-jane-bere-mode-per-ne-interesohet-dhe-kina/