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Editorial note: The slow unraveling of Sali Berisha
The visible decline of Sali Berisha, the veteran leader of the Democratic Party, former president, and former prime minister, is one of the defining features of this electoral campaign. Once...
The legal, moral, and political problem with Berisha’s attempt to clear his name with money
Opinion by Mero Baze The issue regarding the $6 million contract between Berisha’s Democratic Party (DP) and an American lobbying firm has three dimensions: legal, moral, and political. The legal...
The West that liberated Kosovo no longer exists
Opinion by Mero Baze March 24, 1999, marks the first—and perhaps the last—time NATO jets rose to bomb a country that was oppressing an ethnic minority within its own borders....
The Veliaj case and Albania’s justice reform at a crossroads: the need for checks and balances
In the days following the arrest of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, there has been a whirlwind of debates, legal arguments, and political accusations. Yet, amid all the noise, one particular...
Justice must be protected from politics, if it does not engage in politics
By Mero Baze In the way politics has treated SPAK and the new justice system in general, two different standards have been established. The standard of Sali Berisha, who openly...
Berisha’s cynical pirouettes on LGBT issues
Sali Berisha’s announcement of a draft law recognizing only two genders—male and female—has caused puzzlement and sparked cynical comments about his true motives. It is worth examining Berisha’s shifting positions...
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The long shadow of January 21: a lingering failure for Albania’s new justice system
Published on January 21, 2025
Fourteen years have passed since January 21, 2011, when four protesters were fatally shot in front of Albania’s Prime Minister’s office. Fourteen years since a...
SPAK’s investigation of Mayor of Tirana: an anonymous “accuser” and suspicion of political motives fuel controversy
Published on December 27, 2024
By Mero Baze The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj publicly acknowledged today that the latest “accuser” against him is an anonymous individual and SPAK prosecutor...
By Mero Baze
Editorial note: The opposition’s protest that wasn’t
Published on December 23, 2024
The latest civil disobedience protest organized by Albania’s Democratic Party (DP) has come and gone, leaving barely a ripple in its wake. Held under relentless...
Editorial: Urgent EU and US action required in Kosovo following the Zubin Potok canal attack
Published on December 1, 2024
Friday’s terrorist attack on the water canal in Zubin Potok in northern Kosovo, underscores the fragile state of stability in Kosovo. The Zubin Potok canal...
Editorial note: Opposition’s October 7 protest, a study in self-destruction
Published on October 8, 2024
Economic historian Carlo M. Cipolla famously defined stupidity as causing harm without gaining any benefit. The leaders of the Albanian Democratic Party (DP) would have...