Taulant Balla, head of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, condemned Sali Berisha’s remarks against EU Ambassador Silvio Gonzato, announcing that the party will file a request with the Parliamentary Ethics Committee to hold Berisha to account and put to rest such attacks.

Taulant Balla called out Berisha for the latest verbal attack on the EU Ambassador in parliament, describing it as part of a longstanding pattern. He noted that “for 35 years on end, the same individual has targeted U.S. ambassadors, diplomats from other friendly nations, and now the EU ambassador.”

Balla stated that this attitude runs counter to the principles of the Vienna Convention and Albania’s national interest.

Balla addressed the opposition, stating, “The EU remains our most important partner, and Albania will be a member by 2030, regardless of your stance, which is far from supporting this historic aspiration.”

Commenting on Berisha’s statements in Parliament, Balla reminded that one of the reasons for Berisha being declared “non grata” by the U.S. was his repeated attacks against ambassadors.

In his remarks, Balla accused the opposition of manipulating the debate on the law on gender equality and anti-discrimination, emphasizing that this law was adopted in 2010 under the signature of Sali Berisha and that in the Republic of Albania “there are only men and women.”

He recalled that the Istanbul Convention was signed by Berisha in 2011 and ratified in 2012, adding that “politicizing this issue has nothing to do with the content of the law.”

“Men and women in this country will be paid equally, and this is the stance of the current majority, which has brought the highest number of women into parliament since 1920,” Balla stated.

He described the opposition’s interpretation of “multiple affiliation” as misleading, clarifying that it pertains to social discrimination, not gender.
/sm/