On Thursday in a televised interview, former Prime Minister Sali Berisha stated that the US Ambassador,
Yuri Kim, had misinformed the Albanian public in a posting saying that no designation has been reversed. He cited three or four cases of Turkish ministers, designated by the Treasury Department.
Amid these remote polemics and based on Mr. Berisha’s recent allegations and statements, Albanian public broadcaster addressed the Department of State on Friday, initially asking if his designation in the United States or of any other person can be reversed?

Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, Congress provides that officials of foreign governments and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States when the Secretary of State has credible information that the foreign official has been involved, directly or indirectly, with significant corruption and/or a gross violation of human rights.

RTSH asked the US State Department about the claims of the former Albanian Prime Minister, taking in response the difference between the decisions pursuant to Article 7031 (c) of the Annual Budget Law executed by the State Department and other decisions related to the Treasury Department.

“Mr. Berisha was not designated under the authority of financial sanctions. Sanctions by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rely on various authorities. For a response regarding them, you can contact OFAC for information about their decisions “the spokesman is quoted as saying.

In the statement of the spokesperson above, it turns out that Mr. Berisha refers to the decisions of the Treasury Department for cases of previous decisions that have been reversed, while his designation was made by the State Department. Apparently, this was the difference that the US Embassy in Tirana intended to make when it specified in December last year.
/sm/