The arrests / Rama tells WELT: We are in the final phase of cleaning up the country

Prime Minister Edi Rama has spoken about the fight against corruption in Albania and the role of the justice institutions in an interview with the German outlet WELT.

During the interview, Rama was also asked about the arrest of the former director of the State Intelligence Service, Vlora Hyseni, placing the case in the context of the investigations and proceedings against senior officials.

Speaking about the corruption situation in the country, the prime minister said that Albania has moved, in his view, from a system where corruption was part of how the state functioned to a phase in which the institutions are fighting it.

“Albania was a country where corruption was the system. Today Albania is a country where the system fights against corruption. We are in the final phase of cleaning up the country,” Rama declared.

Asked about the activity of the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) and the investigations into senior officials, Rama described the process as difficult, while also raising criticism of some aspects of the procedures.

“Partly it is painful. Not all procedures comply with European standards, in my opinion. Albania has the highest rate of pre-trial detainees on the continent. But this is part of a harsh and inevitable process. For this we should receive credit,” he said.

The prime minister was then asked whether the arrests and convictions of people close to him should also be accompanied by political responsibility on his part.

Rama said that the developments in the judiciary constitute, in his view, an important change compared with the history of the Albanian state.

“Before I took office, since 1912, when our state was created, no minister in Albania had ever appeared before an independent prosecutor,” the prime minister declared.

He added that he considers it his political responsibility that the justice institutions can hold officials accountable, regardless of their position.

“That is my political responsibility,” Rama concluded.