Withers: Concerned for Albanian democracy

In an interview for the Voice of America, Mr. Withers declared that Albania is not following the road of western democracies, but is going towards the Hungarian and Ukrainian regimes.

“My concern is that Albania doesn’t seem to be following the road of western democracies, but is following the example of Hungary, which is undertaking oppressive measures against the media, or Ukraine, which is using the courts for attacking opposition leaders and for protecting their political allies and friends. I think that Albania is following the example of Russia, where the elections do not fulfill the international standards, which are expected from a developed democracy”, the former ambassador Withers declared.

Withers blamed the Albanian political leaders for not being able to resolve the important problems and for not undertaking the necessary reforms for the country’s EU integration. According to him, the Albanian leaders are divisive rather than unifying.

“The political problems do not derive from the ambience, but from the political polarization of the leaders, who simply don’t have the democratic instinct within them. Democracy is something outside them, something that they are obliged to manipulate for the outside world, not something that they actually practice”, Withers declared, by being careful to explain that his opinions that were published on Wikileaks were not personal, but political stances of the US foreign policy.

John L. Withers was the US Ambassador to Albania from August 2007 to November 2012, when he was replaced by the current ambassador, Alexander Arvizu.

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