Preç Zogaj
The title of this article is contradictory. The United States is in Albania. So, it makes no sense to wait for something we already have.
However, the discussion here is about Washington’s policy in light of the changes that have occurred and are still occurring with the coming to power of President Trump.
Will the support for SPAK, the Special Anti-Corruption Structure, the Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO), and the new justice system remain the same as it was during Trump’s first term (2016-2020) and Biden’s term (2020-2024)?
Will the rule of law and the fight against impunity continue to be a priority of American foreign policy in Albania?
Will widespread corruption in an allied country still be considered a phenomenon that threatens U.S. interests?
Will justice continue to receive political support to ensure the legal prosecution of high-level corruption?
These questions are not just a popular outcry in a barren landscape. Since Trump’s victory, “certain” predictions have been circulating in our country, claiming that the U.S. will no longer support SPAK and will even leave it to be torn apart by the subjects of its investigations.
It doesn’t end there. This week, in a ‘tour de force’ of communications aimed at managing the electoral impact of the arrest of the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, the country’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, lost his balance to the point of delivering a full-fledged diatribe against SPAK.
To be clear: the fact that the head of the executive opposes the prosecuting body because it is investigating high-ranking officials from the ruling party is not a catastrophe. Throughout the democratic West, where the separation of powers functions properly, clashes between the executive and the judiciary are routine. From this perspective, Rama’s outrage can be considered good news for SPAK. It means it has now become an independent institution.
But Rama did not stop at venting his anger. He warned, in a serious tone, that once the May 11 elections are over, the new socialist majority will take action to bring SPAK “back on track.” In other words, he intends to do what he has long had in mind but has so far been prevented from accomplishing due to Euro-American resistance: neutering SPAK.
In this way, the option of neutering SPAK might find a middle ground with the Berisha-led opposition’s proposal to dissolve it altogether: reconstructing SPAK, placing it under political control, and ensuring impunity for themselves and their allies.
American and European partners have taught us to react immediately whenever there have been statements or initiatives threatening the integrity and independence of judicial institutions, especially SPAK. This time, however, the silence of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana was deafening. This provided “material” for the opponents of the new justice system to joyfully “confirm” the U.S. withdrawal from supporting SPAK and to fuel their theories of lawlessness, allegedly backed by the new Trump administration.
Illusion!
There are many reasons to believe otherwise. At this early stage, the new American administration’s agenda is focused on major domestic and geopolitical issues, following the vision voted for by the President. Some programs and policies of previous administrations have been suspended and are under review. This is natural. Depending on the conclusions, some will be canceled, and others will be restarted.
Because of this, many embassies, especially those in small countries, are in a waiting phase. This, in my opinion, explains the silence of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana.
Despite all the talk that we are a small country and not on anyone’s priority list, the United States—under Trump as well—will certainly have a foreign policy for the Western Balkans, for Albania, for Kosovo. Geopolitically, this region has always been and remains larger than its actual size and population.
As soon as the time comes—likely in the near future—there will be explicit statements from the State Department about U.S. policy priorities in Albania. I am convinced that political support for SPAK will be reaffirmed and strengthened.
It is impossible for the ruling caste to dissolve SPAK. Quite the opposite.
While awaiting U.S. clarification, judicial institutions must continue demonstrating the strength of an independent power in consolidation. After so many years, the U.S. and the EU do not support failure—they support progress.
