EU, US urge Albania’s opposition to end violence and resume dialogue with government

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The European Union and the United States on Tuesday urged Albania’s opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence including the disruption of Parliament to protest the imprisonment of a fellow lawmaker doesn’t help the country integrate into the European bloc.

On Monday, opposition Democratic Party lawmakers shoved microphones off tables, hurled objects at the seats of Parliament’s speaker and government ministers and burned chairs, saying Ervin Salianji’s prison sentence was politically motivated. They also called for protests in the capital, Tirana, starting next week.

The conservative Democrats have long accused the governing Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama of usurping all power, including the judiciary, and have staged violent protests against the government since 2013.

Parliament expelled Salianji on Monday after he began serving a one-year prison sentence last week on slander charges.

In 2018, Salianji demanded the resignation of the Socialist Party’s then-Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj after a video circulated in which two men claimed Xhafaj’s brother was involved in illegal activities. The evidence they offered turned out to be fabricated and the two men have since fled the country.

Salianji has appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court.

The EU ambassador to Albania, Silvio Gonzato, described the opposition’s “resort to disruptive methods to express their position” as “regrettable.”

“My plea is just to return to dialogue which doesn’t mean to agree on everything but return to dialogue in the Parliament and avoid any personal, verbal attacks,” Gonzato told journalists.

In 2020, the EU decided to launch full membership negotiations with Albania, and later this month the country will start discussions with the bloc on how it aligns with the rule of law, functioning of democratic institutions and fight against corruption.

The U.S. Embassy in Albania said it was “deeply concerned by the destruction and force on display in Albania’s Parliament on Monday.”

“We support peaceful and collaborative discussion on Albania’s EU accession negotiations, and will continue to stand by Albania’s institutions as they work to bring Albania closer to the Euro-Atlantic community,” it said in a statement.

Democrat leader Sali Berisha, who is under house arrest on corruption charges, said the protest was the start of the opposition’s battle to reclaim power ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.

“The Democratic Party respects the international partners as it also respects the people of the partner countries who give the deserved response any time they cope with an injustice,” Berisha said after the EU and U.S. reactions.

The opposition has been sharply divided after Berisha and his family members were barred from entering the United States in 2021 and the United Kingdom in 2022 because of alleged involvement in corruption. He has denied the accusations repeatedly, saying Prime Minister Edi Rama was behind them, without providing evidence.

The Socialists have 73 lawmakers in the 140-member chamber and can easily pass most proposed legislation.

Post-communist Albania has struggled to fight corruption, which has impeded the country’s democratic, economic and social development.

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Llazar Semini, The Associated Press