ON
🔍
← Back to feed
SerbiaPolitics3 days ago

After US Lifts Graft Sanctions, is Albania’s Berisha Really ‘Back’?

Albania's former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, now an opposition leader, has regained influence after U.S. sanctions against him were lifted. The sanctions, imposed in 2021 under President Joe Biden, were related to allegations of corruption. Berisha had previously challenged the sanctions by appealing to former President Donald Trump. His removal from the Democratic Party's parliamentary group caused internal conflict within the party, which was resolved in his favor by a court in 2024. However, the party still faces challenges in competing with the ruling Socialist Party led by Prime Minister

The 81-year-old opposition leader, a fixture of Albanian political life for more than three decades, had never gone away. But he had reason to claim a new lease on life.

Almost a year and a half since Berisha announced he would petition Donald Trump, the United States this month lifted sanctions imposed on him in 2021 under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, for alleged corruption.

Berisha’s designation had led to his ousting from the parliamentary group of the opposition Democratic Party, the party he founded, triggering a damaging struggle for the leadership between him and Lulzim Basha. A court ruling handed the reins to Berisha in 2024, but it did little to improve the party’s election prospects against the Socialists of Prime Minister Edi Rama, in power since 2013.

Subscribe to Balkan Insight Premium to read the full article.

Please login to your account below if you are already a Premium Subscriber.

Buy Premium Subscription

Our Premium Service gives you full access to all content published on BalkanInsight.com, including analyses, investigations, comments, interviews and more. Choose your subscription today and get unparalleled in-depth coverage of the Southern and Eastern Europe.

Buy Premium Subscription

If you have trouble logging in or any other questions regarding you account, please contact us

Read the full article at Balkan Insight (BIRN) →

1 reports

Balkan Insight (BIRN)IndependentCenter3 days ago
After US Lifts Graft Sanctions, is Albania’s Berisha Really ‘Back’?

Albania's former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, now an opposition leader, has regained influence after U.S. sanctions against him were lifted. The sanctions, imposed in 2021 under President Joe Biden, were related to allegations of corruption. Berisha had previously challenged the sanctions by appealing to former President Donald Trump. His removal from the Democratic Party's parliamentary group caused internal conflict within the party, which was resolved in his favor by a court in 2024. However, the party still faces challenges in competing with the ruling Socialist Party led by Prime Minister

Bias read (Center): The article presents factual information without overtly biased language or selective sourcing. It reports on the lifting of sanctions, Berisha's political situation, and the internal dynamics of the Democratic Party without taking a clear stance on Berisha's innocence or guilt, or on the broader政治争