In an interview with “Newsline” talk show on ABC News TV, British diplomat underlined that Albanian politicians should work in best interest of their citizens.

Smith added that sanctions have been imposed on certain Albanian politicians, confirming that the United Kingdom won’t cooperate with these individuals.

“It’s very important for the country to have a functional parliament, because this is in the best interest of democracy and the citizens. This is both the opposition and the majority’s responsibility,” the British diplomat said.

“We pursue a broad approach without defining groups of individuals. There are specific decisions about specific individuals and we won’t engage with them. We want dialogue and engagement with others. I can’t interfere in internal politics,” the British Ambassador said.

“I can’t name individuals declared as persona non grata. I can’t comment on it. Our position is clear. The decisions on persona non-grata are about individuals and not about groups,” he stated.

Ambassador Smith also noted that British investments are currently underway mostly in Albania’s northern regions.

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Addressing a campaign meeting with local residents in Saranda, southern Albania, the Premier said that Albanians should not vote for a person who is unwanted for the country’s biggest allies.

“I would like to ask a question to all of those who consider themselves as rightists and plan to vote for someone that has been designated by our biggest allies for major corruption. Whoever asks what corruption he has committed, it would suffice for them to look back and see the 26 victims because of an explosion triggered by corruption practices to smuggle ammunition. Look at the four people killed on the boulevard; the hydropower plants that were transferred to the private interests, although they were generating electricity for the Albanian people,” PM Rama said.

The government head also drew attention to the designation of Berisha for undermining democracy.

“Democracy undermining through corruption, offshore accounts and alliances against Albania. This man, together with Meta (Ilir) are a disgrace and are seeking to challenge our allies, without whom we wouldn’t have existed today and Kosovo wouldn’t have existed as independent state,” he said.

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“There is no law anywhere in the world to ban a persona non-grata from participating in elections,” PM Rama told a TV political talk show.

“We are talking about the law, because no democratic country around the world have such legislation and no international right and human rights framework stipulate that if an individual is declared non-grata by a country he or she should be excluded from elections,” PM Rama added.

However, the government head noted that legislation is being drafted to ban former collaborators of the Communist-era secret police force.

“The legislation has yet to be approved. However, if such a law banning former secret police collaborators was in place, Ilir Meta cannot be excluded as he is not a candidate in the local elections,” he said.

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Addressing the campaign meeting, PM Rama said that the European Union would not open its doors to the individuals who have been designated by the United States of America, stating that “the opposition duo, former PM Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta, are seeking to take Albania hostage, as they are fighting for their own troubles.”

“They are unable to show a single municipality that has been successful under their leadership in the last 31 years. They govern the municipality of Shkodra since 1992, a region with tremendous potential, but unfortunately it is the less developed region in the country. The duo is seeking to take Albania hostage,” he said.

The government head also focused on Albania’s increasing role in the international arena, pointing out the country’s role in the UN Security Council or its OSCE chairmanship. However – he noted – “there are politicians who have been declared persona non-grata by the United States of America.”

“Albania is now more respected in the eyes of the world. It was just a few years ago when nobody would have ever thought over Albania taking a seat in the UN Security Council along with the world’s super powers and Albania’s representatives have held admirable position. Albania has also chaired OSCE, the biggest international organization, and the country hosted the EU-Western Balkan summit, the first to be ever held outside the EU territory and is set to host the Berlin Process Summit in October. All these show that the relations with our allies and partners are stronger than ever before. The country’s image has been improved,” he said.

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During a briefing to reporters, after the meeting of the leading board of the ruling Socialist Party, Rama was asked whether his call in the campaign was pressure not to vote for the candidates of the “Together We Win” coalition.

“I didn’t talk about opposing candidates, nor about opposition candidates, I talked about puppets of a couple one of which is declared non-grata by our biggest strategic ally, the USA,” said Rama.

“We have received repeated calls from our strategic ally in the United Nations to be careful at this point. Of course, the choice is of the Albanians’, but even the relationship and the nature of the relations with Albania, is up to our allies’. They decide the nature of their relationship with us, at the moment when an individual declared non-grata, not a common individual, but an individual who has had quite a lot of power, one of the most important individuals in the history of this country in the last 30 years, is marked a non-grata person. This makes interaction very difficult”, stated Rama.

According to Rama, “This was not a pressure, but a way to tell him directly that cooperation will be impossible, not because we don’t want to support the communities, but because these candidates are not there to solve problems of communities and to further the work we have done in these municipalities, but to create oases of political war, to erect barricades with the central government and to treat the municipalities as hostages of war”./gj.m/p.s./

In a post via the social media, the government head said that he has just reminded everyone that “the U.S. politics is not about money, but it is about strategic approaches.”

“I haven’t hinted to any non grata decision! I have just reminded everyone that the U.S. politics is not a about money or cheese pie, as Tirana’s persona non grata describe it, but it is a strategic approach. Of course, it goes on,” PM Rama said.

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In his speech held at the National Assembly of the Socialist Party today in Tirana, Rama stressed that, “The name of the Ombudsman belongs to the opposition, but I want to be very clear, I categorically exclude, in context of the opposition, the big “Non-Grata”, i.e. Sali Berisha (declared non-grata by the US) and his retinue.

“SP will reject every decision and every request that comes from that direction. This is a direction with which the policy of the SP, and the policy of Albania should have nothing to do. As far as we are concerned, we do not have and will not have any connection”.

Rama said, “Albania will continue to get elevated. Because history has been prescribed for some time in relation to the evil we drove out in 2013.”/p.s./

Kim explained that whoever is defined by the Secretary of State for committing major corruption, it is generally a matter of significant amounts. Kim said that when the decision is forwarded to the Secretary of State, on whoever is the person declared non-grata, there is a 100% conviction.

Further on, Kim said that the USA will keep on pointing at all the persons involved in corruption and who undermine democracy in the country.

In answer to question on relations between the USA and the Democratic Party if the former prime minister Berisha is back in the chair, Kim emphasized that the USA will not be engaged with anybody declared of being involved in major corruption by the Secretary of State. She added that the USA pursues the same policy all over the world and is not at all a matter of individuals.

The U.S. ambassador also said that the USA will not abandon Albania not only because of the long way traversed together, but also because the USA has invested a lot in Albania./p.s./

Asked by journalists regarding the statements of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, the DP leader Basha said that, “Albania, the Albanians, the democracy of the Albanians, the future of their Albanian families, has one and only one enemy, Edi Rama and his regime that emerged from the illegal elections, which the DP does not recognize.”

The leader of the Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha, announced on Thursday his decision to expel Sali Berisha from the Democratic Party parliamentary group, after the latter was declared “non grata” by the US State Department.

In response to this decision, former Prime Minister Berisha said today that, “he will take any statutory legal initiative within the DP to return it to the pedestal it deserves.” //a.i/

“The difficult decision announced yesterday by Chairman Lulzim Basha deserves respect.

This decision demonstrates that – as was the case 30 years ago and at other critical moments in Albania’s history – the Democratic Party has the courage to break from the past in order to build the future, to help lead Albania forward.

The United States has had a special relationship with the Democratic Party from its founding and we look forward to working more closely than ever with Chairman Basha and the Democratic Party to strengthen U.S.-Albania relations,” US Embassy in Tirana said.

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