Prime Minister Edi Rama has responded to the protests held in Tirana and to accusations about the strengthening of Albanian criminal groups abroad, in an interview with American journalist Andrew Callaghan on the program “Channel 5.” At the center of his remarks were two sensitive issues: how the government reads gatherings in the streets and the clash over reporting that links Albanian names to international drug markets.
The government says it received signals from the protest
Asked about the recent gatherings and calls for change, Rama presented the situation as a normal protest in a democratic country, avoiding the idea that any kind of “revolution” is taking place in Tirana.
He said the government had “taken notes” on the concerns raised in the early days of the protests and that some of them, according to his account, have begun to be implemented. However, the head of government did not provide a clear list of reforms directly linked to the protesters’ demands.
‘Digital mirror’ as a political response
As a concrete example, Rama mentioned what he called a “digital mirror,” linking it to the need for more transparency around the project that, according to him, prompted the public reaction.
In the interview, he said that everything related to that project has now been transparently displayed online. But from his statement it remains unclear whether this move addresses the core of the public objections or simply seeks to manage dissatisfaction through institutional communication.
Rama rejects the term ‘Albanian mafia’
In the strongest part of the interview, Rama openly challenged claims about the existence of an “Albanian mafia” that controls segments of the international cocaine market.
Faced with the journalist’s references to reports about Albanian criminal groups operating across Europe, Australia and Latin America, the prime minister said no such structure exists and described these characterizations as “nonsense.”
According to Rama, there are Albanian individuals involved in the global trafficking chain, just as there are citizens of other countries, but not an organization that can be labeled an “Albanian mafia.”
The clash over interpretations in SPAK’s name
Rama went further, saying that such a position had also been confirmed to him by the head of SPAK, whom he cited to support his denial.
The interview also raised the claim that data linked to the 2015-2024 period point to large flows of money from unknown or illegal sources in real estate and construction. Rama disputed that formulation and said SPAK has never reported such a figure in that form.
According to him, what may have been said by SPAK relates to seized money that was partly poured into such sectors, and not to a general estimate for more than half of market turnover.
The interview reflects a familiar government line of defense: protests are accepted as democratic noise, while alarms over organized crime are relativized or dismissed as exaggerations.
What remains unexplained is the gap between public concerns, international reporting and the way the authorities choose to define them in public.