The internal clash in the right-wing opposition Democratic Party (DP) between Lulzim Basha, current chairman, and Sali Berisha, DP founder and first president after the fall of communism in Albania in early 90s, took an unexpected turn on Thursday after the statement of the EU ambassador Luigi Soreca, who was in a completely opposite line from that of his American colleague Yuri Kim.
So far, Basha’s supporters who do not accept the meeting of the National Assembly of DP and justify Berisha’s expelling from the parliamentary group supporting this position in the statute of their party which is based on Euro-Atlantic values.
This argument was fueled by a statement of the US ambassador who threatened Basha in front of his headquarters that the DP could not eat grass to protect the interests of a single man. This statement and some ultimatums that Basha claims to have heard only himself have led him to accuse Berisha of turning the party into a bunker to defend himself against America whose State Secretary has recently designed Berisha the traditional friend of US and his family as persona non grata. But if Berisha’s supporters refer to Euro-Atlantic values a signal given on Thursday is seen that not all Western diplomats think alike.
Asked directly by journalists during a visit to Korca, Soreca did not condition the EU’s cooperation with the DP in order to win or oust Berisha. “We work with everyone,” he said after being asked what the stance would be if Berisha won.
‘We work with all political forces, we have cooperated with the DP even when it was outside the Parliament, and we will follow developments within the party. Nothing will change. We will continue to work with all political forces,” said Soreca.
Analyst say it is not known if this is a deliberate line of conduct, or a reaction of the moment by the EU chief in Tirana that sets a clear dividing line between the approach of the US and that of Europe, noted the portal Syri.net on Thursday.
Basha has stepped up his purge in the DP ranks continuing to expel senior figures and even MPs from key posts.
In the meantime Berisha’s meetings in frame of Foltore go on with the next keg in the city of Berat, southern Albania, known as a stronghold of Socialist majority. / Argumentum.al
