FUNNY COMEDIANS OR A WELL-COORDINATED RUSSIAN ACTION ON THE BALKANS?

The recording of the Russian pranksters with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev created serious political tensions not only in Skopje, but also in the region. The opposition in Albania, the very next day after the release of the footage, came out with a press conference demanding Rama’s responsibility for an alleged consent to the partition of Kosovo, indications allegedly stemming from Zaev’s conversation with the pranksters. All this is seemingly normal within the daily political tensions between the government and the opposition, as long as we do not have a wider picture of the political background in Albania in the last two years.

Russian money for the leader of the opposition

The leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, Lulzim Basha, has been facing serious accusations over the past year for receiving large amounts of suspicious money originating from Russian companies. Namely, the American magazine Mother Jones in March 2018 published a study made by three journalists that revealed that the Democratic Party of Lulzim Basha paid 675,000 American dollars to an American lobby company founded by Nicholas Mazin to provide a brief meeting and photo with US President Donald Trump, during the political crisis and before the elections in Albania. One part of the contract was paid by the company Biniatta Trade, formed by two offshore companies from Belize.

The survey by Mother Jones magazine shows that behind the chain of Biniatta Trade founders are two Russian citizens, Yevgeny Sheremetev and Konstantin Ferulev.

The doubts grew bigger when it was revealed that these money were hidden, that is, they were not reported to the Albanian Central Election Commission, for which an official investigation against Basha was raised.

A war against Soros and „some embassies“

On the occasion of Zaev’s tape with the pranksters, in coordination with Basha’s political party, reacted also the third-largest Albanian party, the Socialist Movement for Integration. This is a party founded by the incumbent Albanian President Ilir Meta and is currently led by his wife, Monika Kryemadhi. President Ilir Meta, a few days ago, right after the local elections in Albania, announced a war on a press conference to what he called “some embassies” and organizations supported by George Soros. He accused Soros and some foreign diplomats of plotting against Albania and of a parallel state that he called Deep State. He also threatened that he is “not Gruevski” and that foreigners will not be able to cope easily with him.

Violent protests and a boycott in a crucial period for the European integration

It is these two political parties, Lulzim Basha’s DP and Monica Kryemadhi – Meta’s wife’s SMI, that are the leaders of the violent protests that last for several months in Albania. The two parties also boycotted the local elections held on June 30 this year, while Ilir Meta, from the position of President, tried to move them for October.

This deep political crisis in Albania began months before the European Commission’s progress report on Albania, and at a time when Albania and North Macedonia expected a joint date for the start of negotiations with the EU. As is known, the decision on Albania as well as North Macedonia is postponed for October. President Ilir Meta announced that he will engage in early parliamentary and new local elections precisely on October 13th of this year.

A Russian footage as an inspiration

Having in mind the above-mentioned facts about the political relations in Albania, the express reaction of the Albanian opposition inspired by the Russian footage no longer appears to be even a bit accidental. Although it is difficult to prove the coordinated action of official Moscow with their presumed Balkan puppets, it is clear that the footage and the dirty money of the Albanian opposition have the same origin – Russia.