Wikileaks: finances endangered by elections

27/08/2011 15:35

Shocking facts are published on Wikileaks through some cables that the
US Embassy in Tirana has sent to the US State department during
2008-2009.

Most of them show the concern of US experts for Albania’s fiscal policies during the crisis, before the country entered the electoral campaign.

US experts have openly expressed their concern that the great desire of the Albanian government for winning the elections has brought the finances on the brink of collapse, by even bringing additional costs to the tax payers. The government pushed IMF away for having free hand on the budget.

A cable sent on 8 April 2009, titled “Albania is walking on a tight financial rope”, explains how Albania is facing a dangerous financial situation, since the crisis has hit all revenues and the government is not giving up from the high electoral expenses. The former US ambassador John Withers comments:

“Berisha seems ready to risk everything for being reelected. The only way to manage this situation in such a dangerous way is if he was blind, although many say that he already is. However, the government has shown strange abilities in the past to avoid catastrophe, although in the last minutes”.

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