“Taking communes off the map of local government units meant that in what is known as rural Albania, which accounted for around 49% of the population, all investment came to a halt. All investment in infrastructure, sewerage networks, water supply systems and support for farmers was stopped. This anti-Albanian policy has taken a devastating toll on the demographic situation of the Albanian nation since 1913,” Berisha said.

He said that “never before has this nation lost so many people in a 10-year period as it has between 2015 and 2024, with 1.099 million Albanians, according to Eurostat, leaving for the Schengen area alone. And if we add the figures for those who went to the United States, Canada, Norway, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and other countries, the truth is that 47% of Albanians have left Albania over the past 10 years,” Berisha said.

The opposition leader also said that the increase in the number of foreign workers in the country is linked to the departure of Albanians abroad.

“These days it was announced that more than 22,000 workers would be recruited from Vietnam. One statistic shows that 23,000 employed people in the country are foreigners, not including those who are not registered, whose number reaches tens of thousands,” he said.

Berisha reiterated his accusations against the government, describing the situation as a “soft genocide” and calling for its resignation.

“In just one year, in Kukës County, the poorest region in Europe, economic assistance has been cut off for 20,000 families,” Berisha said.

He said that “minority municipalities should, of course, be respected and preserved. But precisely as you say, if they are to be maintained, why should Albanian communities be belittled and disregarded, ignored and treated as if they do not matter? This is a genuinely anti-Albanian act.”

“And that is not all. Since consultations have not yet been completed, we are leaving open the possibility of increasing their number, depending on discussions with local communities.

I wholeheartedly salute all citizens and communities of the municipalities that Edi Rama has written off in an attempt to eliminate them.

“I also urge all citizens of the local government units that the Democratic Party’s proposal seeks to reinstate — those abolished in 2014 — to speak out and not allow their future to be determined by a person who has turned Albania into a narco-mafia state and himself into its protector,” Berisha said.

“Let them rise up, as they did in Poliçan, Divjakë, Patos, Klos, Dimal and other areas. Let them stand up and remain steadfast in defending these fundamental rights of theirs,” Berisha concluded.

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