Alert for corrupt senior officials, the high-ranking US official lands in Tirana on June 20, Joe Biden extends "national emergency" to eradicate corruption in Albania, the document that sinks the "Berisha" family is revealed, asset seizure for corrupt names and for those who promote destabilization of the Balkans

The United States of America has increased the fight against all politicians, rulers and corrupt officials in Albania, strengthening even more the Justice Reform, whose prosecutors are sending "VIP" names behind bars for the first time. There are two strong developments from the US that portend even darker days for the corrupt. To begin with, the news was given yesterday that the Coordinator of the American government for the fight against global corruption, Richard Nephew, will arrive in Albania next week. The American State Department announces that Nephew will visit Tirana on June 20, where he will also meet with representatives of the government and civil society. He will discuss the work being done in the fight against corruption and areas for further cooperation in anti-corruption efforts. His visit will underscore the ongoing US commitment to fight corruption in the Western Balkans, strengthen the rule of law, and address ongoing shared challenges. The second development is Joe Biden's strong June 13 move. With his signature, the national emergency to eradicate corruption in the Western Balkans, which includes Albania, has been extended by one year. This decision sinks the former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, declared "non grata" by the Americans, as it warns of the second phase of seizing assets and also gives signals that other names will be declared "non grata". 

The full decree is published

If we look inside the decree that has been approved for the Western Balkans, it is said that the US will block the assets of any person who, according to the US Treasury Department, has violated the stability in our region, including Albanian officials. In addition to freezing assets, the decree prohibits these persons from entering the US territory. According to the presidential decree, persons who are connected to corruption will also be included and it will have an effect on former officials or current officials of the governments of the Western Balkan countries who have used public assets for personal gain or for political purposes.

The details

That's why Biden says that people who contribute to:

1- the threat to the peace, security, stability or territorial integrity of any area or state

2- responsible or complicit, or directly or indirectly involved in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the Western Balkans.

3- being responsible or complicit, or being directly or indirectly involved in serious abuse of human rights in the Western Balkans'

4- -being responsible or complicit in, or directly or indirectly involved in, corruption related to the Western Balkans, including corruption by, on behalf of, or otherwise associated with a government in the Western Balkans, or a current or former official of government at any level of government in the Western Balkans, such as misuse of public assets, expropriation of private assets for personal gain or political purposes, or bribery', have their assets frozen and banned from entering the US. We recall that the executive order of June 26, 2001, signed by President George Bush, focused on persons who at the time were considered to be destabilizing the Balkan region, mainly through the instigation of interstate conflicts, such as in Kosovo, Macedonia or Bosnia-Herzegovina. In an updated order 20 years later, on June 8, 2021 – executive order no. 14033 - President Biden supplemented the original statement by adding the element of corruption as an "extraordinary danger to the national security and foreign policy of the United States".