Rama celebrating his own goal

Since midday last Monday, Greek-Albanian politician Fredi Beleri has been free to carry out his duties as a representative of Greece in the European Parliament. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, for his part, may believe that he “ended” Beleri politically.

What he actually did was shoot himself in the foot, and not just because his antics eroded Greek-Albanian relations and took them back to the lows of the 1990s when, under the administration of Sali Berisha, officials of the Greek minority there were being dragged through the courts.

Rama is also doing his country harm by degrading the image of an “independent” institution, namely the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK), which was formed at the behest of the Europeans and the Americans as part of reforms of the justice system, which is one of the key requirements for Albania’s induction into the European Union.

Rama personally undertook the task of staffing the new agency and made a big deal of its independence, until the case of Beleri came along to expose the fact that SPAK – like so many other agencies – is just another cog in a mechanism designed to serve the prime minister’s interests.

It is true that this specific prosecutorial service had also put several significant figures in its crosshairs, such as ministers, MPs and influential businessmen, quite a few of whom have ties to Rama, and this had a very positive impact in Brussels.

In the Beleri case, however, it gave the impression of following very specific orders and this did not go unnoticed by the Europeans and the Americans, even though they tacitly took Rama’s side in the sense of not criticizing his methods.

Beleri’s early release from prison right after the new mayoral elections in the city of Himare, on the same grounds (good behavior etc) that could have secured his release a few days before the elections, as he had requested, is not the only sign that SPAK was there to facilitate the Albanian leader’s agenda.

The myth of an independent justice system, which was supposed to be epitomized by this new department, has been seriously marred, if not entirely debunked in the eyes not just of Albania’s Western allies, but of its society as well.

After the Beleri affair, who of the many influential people being investigated or prosecuted for corruption will not claim that they are a victim of the powerful Rama’s ambitions?

Political analyst Andi Bushati said it well in a recent piece on the platform Lapsi: “On this occasion, SPAK and a long list of judges showed that they are there to act as instruments of the leader’s propaganda. This is the depressing conclusion of today’s events [Beleri’s release], which marked the end of a disgraceful ordeal for our rule of law.”

Beleri’s political defenestration may be presented as a personal victory of Rama’s, but what it was was a Pyrrhic victory – and he knows it.