“No one has been deprived of non-grata”, this is the message that the US has sent today to former Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The latter has started a battle in a court in France, after being declared an “non-grata” for the US for corruption and undermining democracy.
The strong message from the US Embassy in Tirana comes at a time when Sali Berisha, although declared “non grata” by the US, wants to take over the Democratic Party, claiming to hold a referendum on December 18 to dismiss the current leader of DP Lulzim Basha.
“If in doubt, the number of people who have been declared ‘Non Grata’ over 200, the number of people who have been stripped of ‘zero’, the number of people who have been apologized for ‘zero’,” it is stated in the US announcement.
Former leader of the Democratic Party Sali Berisha, no further than yesterday has responded to the spokesman of the US State Department, Ned Price. The latter expressed concern about Berisha’s statements about the American ambassador in Tirana, Yuri Kim. While in his reaction Berisha says, among other things, that criticism is not an attack.
“In my opinion, criticism is not an attack, I have criticized the attitudes and statements of the US ambassador, which were not in line with my assessment of the laws of the country and the Vienna Convention. “I think that the interpretation of criticism as attacks is not right because it is a pure form of diplomatic bullying”, says Berisha.
Given that the US is determined in declaring Berisha “non-grata”, rejecting the claims of the former prime minister that he has been lobbied for this decision. The US states that the number of people declared “non grata” by Washington is over 200, and there are zero apologies for people declared “non grata” for significant corruption.
As if that were not enough, the US is determined to sever any cooperative relations with the blue headquarters if Sali Berisha takes over this party.
Despite his war with the US, Berisha has stated that he considers it personal for his dignity, including the Democratic Party, while trying to risk ending any relations with the US. This comes in defiance of the U.S. warning, attempting to oust the current DP leader, at a time when he has not denied taking personal leadership of the party himself.
In the National Assembly claimed by Sali Berisha on December 11, it was voted for the dismissal of Lulzim Basha and the new saturative changes in the DP were approved. On the other hand, Lulzim Basha has been in an open conflict with Berisha and the Democrats who support him since he decided to expel him from the parliamentary group, after declaring him “non grata”.
Basha himself called the National Assembly of the Democratic Party on 18th December, the day on which Berisha holds a referendum to dismiss him.
/abcnews.al
