The State Department and SPAK have a new message for Berisha

Today, Gazeta Tema asked the State Department whether Liri Berisha was also included in the reported waiver for Sali Berisha, described as a visa allowing him to travel to the United States.

The State Department replied: “As a general rule, because of the confidentiality of the visa process, the Department of State does not comment on actions relating to specific cases.”

That answer preserves the American state’s normal confidentiality. But in Tirana, Berisha has already broken that confidentiality himself by announcing that his wife, Liri Berisha, had also received a visa.

The only thing Berisha has not denied — and the only thing the State Department’s answer confirms indirectly — is that this is about a one-time visa to travel to the United States.

The non grata sanctions against the Berisha family remain in force. Anyone who wants to attack me over this should first check the State Department’s website.

State Department non grata sanctions are not lifted without a political decision. So a single visa, secured through $6 million of lobbying, is mainly a relief for Berisha’s lobbyists. It also makes Liri Berisha’s trip necessary, since the whole waiver has been justified on medical grounds.

That way, no one can question the money they were paid.

But this creates a bigger problem for Berisha’s political future. He and his wife remain non grata. So do their children. And since the children are effectively the de facto leaders of the Democratic Party, that makes the party’s future leadership even darker.

To understand how the Americans operate, just look at what the lobbyists did and what the American state did within 24 hours.

The lobbyists, paid $6 million, issued a press release saying Berisha would receive an exception to travel to the United States, while his non grata status remained in place.

The next day, SPAK structures — closely aligned with American law-enforcement priorities on drug trafficking and money laundering — launched one of Albania’s largest operations against drug trafficking, property forgery and money laundering. The people involved are key figures politically linked mainly to Sali Berisha.

Today’s SPAK operation links a large group of construction investors to drug trafficking and to landowners in Zvërnec. Its importance is clear: it helps clear illegal interests from one of the largest tourism projects ever offered to Albania, while also striking at the political links of some of these clans.

At the centre of the operation is Artur Shehu, a major land businessman in the Vlora area who has operated from the United States since 1997 after having problems with Albanian justice; Ilir Shtufi, a major construction figure in Tirana closely linked to the son of opposition leader Sali Berisha; and several other construction operators and suspected drug traffickers.

The key politically connected figure is Ilir Shtufi. Artur Shehu, meanwhile, is suspected of using Democratic Party power to register properties that SPAK will now reopen for investigation.

This operation is an answer to Sali Berisha, who has begun his counterattack against the new opposition that has replaced him on the boulevard.

The man trying to cross the ocean with $6 million is now trying to cross the boulevard that has taken his private property from him: the opposition.

His people are trying to seize control of the boulevard, intimidate the protest and turn it into another political forum of the Democratic Party. Dozens of incidents from the protest — including the targeting of people critical of Berisha and of those chanting “Rama in prison, Berisha in prison” — show that he is sending people into the square to save the Democratic Party from the new opposition.

But before he deals with that, tonight he has a more concrete problem.

His son lives in a villa owned by Ilir Shtufi. Today, the owner of that villa is under investigation and his assets have been seized.

Of course, there are plenty of other houses.

But now he is non grata even in the house where he sleeps — because he chose to live in one without clean papers.

Originally published in Albanian as: Një përgjigje e re nga Departamenti i Shtetit dhe SPAK-u për Berishën