TIRANA, Feb 2 /ATA/ Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Thursday that he met the former senior FBI official Charles McGonigal at his request.
Asked in a televised interview about the case of the former FBI official McGonigal, Rama said that, “in fact, I have not fallen silent. I have said what I can say under the conditions when there is absolutely nothing directly related to me, to the government, or even to any other Albanian official.”
“The case has caused a great deal of sensation, but not because of the investigation related to Albania, but because of the main investigation into an alleged involvement of the former senior FBI official with a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska,” said Rama.
Asked about the relationship with McGonigal and whether the US embassy knew about the meetings, Rama said that, “first of all, I want to reiterate that I don’t have much to say in this conversation, or on this issue, but given that today I refused to be and will continue to refuse, not for the specific issue, but in general, to be in a hall of the Assembly and to fully engage in a debate with an opposition, which manifests a daunting level of ethics and unfortunately has drawn me to that level at times. But on the other hand, I say that, in any case, it is worth to speak with calm assurance, and thank you for the opportunity to give an account of those things that can be explained.”
So, Rama emphasized, “first, I met the former senior FBI official at his request. He came over, I received him in the office, we had a very friendly conversation, which focused on quite general topics. He told me that his work focuses on the Russian influence as a whole. We talked about the region, as a place where the Russian influence is quite present. While in Albania it is known that the Russian influence, at least at that time, was non-existent. And then the other meetings that followed came as a result of either his presence here and I met with him quite amicably, without any agenda, or my presence in the US when I was at the UN General Assembly and he invited me and I have visited the FBI offices in New York and met with his other colleagues, and so on and so forth.”
So, Rama added, “I don’t see anything extraordinary as far as this relationship is concerned, which is a completely normal relationship, which is not the only one that I maintain with representatives of different agencies or different international organizations and I have no obligation to notify either the US embassy, or anyone else because this is a completely normal part of my duty.”
Asked if under the state protocol two individuals who have business interests with an FBI official are allowed to meet the PM of a country, Rama stated that, “first, in the follow-up to your elaboration, the opposition says these and others, but the problem is that it is the opposition and not the US justice that says it.”
“International media don’t say anything like that, they don’t implicate the government or me and they have no reason to when the act of indictment doesn’t contain anything like that. I assure you that there is no line about this and we have been not been asked to give an account. The case of the former FBI official is specifically about how he adhered to the rules and ethical codes of the FBI and the laws of his country. You asked whether it is ethical to meet with two businessmen? This did not happen, I did not meet any kind of businessman, he came together with an Albanian-American citizen whom he introduced as his friend to me,” Rama said.
Asked if this citizen has been awarded a contract from the government, Rama answered that, “I do not speak about the relationship I had with the senior FBI official and I am not the person who should be asked if he has been awarded any contract, he has not benefited anything from me.”
/sm/
