USA: Property corruption

The former US ambassador in Tirana, John Withers underlines the numerous critics towards the Albanian government on the way the property return process was managed. The cable identifies the pretenses that specific cases have been manipulated due to the lack of political will.

According to the embassy, there are many US citizens or Albanian citizens living in America who have legal disputes with the Albanian government for not receiving their legal properties. The document mentions the fact that in many occasions, such cases have ended up in court, where they have been dragged around for years, without receiving a solution. According to the embassy, the process that started on 1993 might not end before 2014.

“Cham case, government is afraid”

In another analyze, the content of which is on a cable of November 2008, Mr. Withers comes to the conclusion that the Albanian Government doesn’t want to face the Greek government for the Cham case. The former head of US Embassy summarizes the Cham issue with historical data.

For Withers, the Albanian government doesn’t want to face Greece, because they want to avoid nationalistic accusations that could endanger the relations with the neighboring country. “They haven’t done much for the Cham issue since the resolution of 1994, when it was recognized as such,” the message says. The perspective of a legal case could turn more attention on the Chams, but it is not sure which court would have the right jurisdiction for this problem and what concrete result could come out for the Chams.

Archives not open for former persecuted people

For the US Embassy, the presence of former communists in the current government, including the Prime Minister Sali Berisha, doesn’t allow the opening of state archives, a request that has fallen in deaf ears.

The government has few chances to afford the compensation cost for the politically persecuted of the communist regime. “Victims of Communism, obelisk, but no access in state archives”, is the title of this cable that is considered sensitive, but not classified, which means that there is no secret or previously unknown information. Although the Albanian government has promised a superficial help for the communist victims, and in principle has agreed to compensate them, there are few chances to find the necessary means for satisfying the members of this association.

Moreover, there are still a few chances that the government will commit to reveal the facts and necessary data for showing all damages caused by communism. Such an analyze would demand opening the archives that have been sealed by the state, but that very few believe that will ever be open, based on the fact that many former communists, including the Prime Minister himself, today are part of the Albanian political cast. This is not a new problem, the cable says, and there are very few chances for a quick resolution.

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