Berisha in Strasbourg: When 90% of the media is controlled by the government, pluralism becomes fictitious

The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, raised strong accusations against the Albanian government over the state of the media and pluralism in the country, during his speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

In his speech, Berisha claimed that over 90% of the media in Albania are controlled by the prime minister, the government and linked economic interests, while the rest, according to him, face pressure and attacks.

“The most serious international reports testify that in Albania over 90% of the media, including news coverage, debates and editorials, are controlled by the prime minister, his narco-government and the businesses of his oligarchs,” Berisha declared.

He also accused the government of having ignored the recommendations of international institutions regarding the media in Albania.

Linking media control to what he described as the “corruption of language”, Berisha said that in such a situation political pluralism becomes fictitious.

“When 90% of the media is controlled by the government, the corruption of language is no longer a side effect, but a technology of rule,” he said.

Berisha described language as a “prison without walls”, arguing that its use can influence the way political and social reality is perceived.

“Language turns into a kind of ‘prison without walls’, where words are used to prevent independent thought before it is born,” the DP leader said.

In his speech, Berisha also referred to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, quoting the expression: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

In conclusion, Berisha asked internationals to take a stance toward the Albanian government, linking this to what he considers necessary to guarantee media freedom and democratic pluralism.

The speech was delivered during the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg from September 28 to October 2, 2026.

Madam President,

The most serious international reports testify that in Albania over 90% of the media, including news coverage, debates and editorials, are controlled by the prime minister, his narco-government and the businesses of his oligarchs. Less than 10% of the media that are not controlled are subject to persecution, verbal and physical attacks against journalists by the prime minister himself and his narco-officials, as well as heavy fines, even to the destruction of their property and assets.

All the recommendations of this institution and of other international institutions on the media in Albania have been ignored by the government.

In a context where 90% of the media is controlled by the political and economic interests of the government, “banal evil” ceases to be a series of random mistakes and turns into an operative system, and this is precisely the case of Albania.

When 90% of the media is controlled by the government, the corruption of language is no longer a side effect, but a technology of rule, and this is a typical case of Albania. In this case, language turns into a kind of “prison without walls”, where words are used to prevent independent thought before it is born. The corruption of language is by far the most powerful and most invisible tool of “banal evil”.

The corruption of language marks the destruction of the fundamental contract between man, society and truth. The corruption of language corrupts thought: freedom becomes fictitious, political pluralism is replaced by bureaucratic pluralism, and this is today’s reality in Albania, the first and only narco-state in Europe.

Language no longer serves to seek the truth, but to build walls.

Ludwig Wittgenstein said: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

It serves to attack opponents and to demonise the real opposition. In a country where banal evil has turned into a system and the corruption of language into a dominant technology, the opposition is always to blame for everything that happens in the country.

A firm stance, international sanctions and the punishment of the narco-state in Albania and of those who built it are sine qua non conditions for the freedom and independence of the media and for the restoration of genuine democratic pluralism in my country.