International media, at the service of Veliaj/ A missing response, which raises suspicions of a paid article

2025-08-14 16:49:00, Aktualitet CNA

International media, at the service of Veliaj/ A missing response, which raises

The international media outlet "The Economist" in an article published on Thursday, August 7, titled "Albania's new anti-corruption unit is bringing down the powerful," focused on the work of SPAK and the impact that the arrests of high-ranking figures, including Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, have had on Albanian politics.

Writing about Veliaj/ Scenarios being played out for changing the security measure
August 8, 11:24

Among other things, the article criticized the work of the Special Prosecution Office, while also giving voice to Arbër Veliaj, Erion Veliaj's brother, who is under indictment by SPAK.

International media, at the service of Veliaj/ A missing response, which raises

Writing in 'The Economist', August 7

Based on the published article, CNA sent a letter the following day, on August 8, to the editorial team of "The Economist" where, among other things, we asked two essential questions: Whether the article was a journalistic piece, or whether it was a sponsored or submitted opinion piece by an external party, i.e. an advertising article.

Email sent by CNA

"We have noted with concern that this article includes strong criticism of SPAK, while giving importance and space to individuals who are currently under indictment by the same institution, including the case of Arbër Veliaj."

Considering the sensitivity of the issue and the potential impact this article may have on public perception in our country, please let us know:

Is this article independently produced by one of your journalists?

"Or is it a sponsored or third-party submitted material (advertising article)?" the email sent by CNA to "The Economist"'s address read, among other things.

Just a minute later, we received an automatic email from The Economist's system, which is sent to anyone who sends a letter to the international media's email address, asking us to specify whether or not our letter was for publication.

Automatic email from 'The Economist'

Although we were aware that their e-mail was automated, again for the sake of fairness we immediately informed them that it was not a letter from us for publication, but an e-mail sent to “The Economist”, where they were expecting a response to the two direct questions we posed to their editorial team regarding the article published on August 7th about the anti-corruption unit in Albania.

Request sent by CNA

A week has passed since the e-mail we sent to "The Economist" and as of the moment we are publishing the material this Thursday (August 14), we have still not received any response from the international media regarding the origin or nature of their article.

The lack of response from a prestigious media outlet like "The Economist" leads us to believe that this article was not a journalistic piece, but rather paid and submitted by an external party.

Writing about Veliaj in the international media/ How far do the scenarios for the arrested mayor of Tirana go?
August 10, 17:25

Despite the efforts in recent months to question the work and professionalism of SPAK, especially in the case of Veliaj, the prosecutors have shown integrity and have continued their investigations unaffected by the wishes or criticism of the media, Albanian and foreign, with or without payment, which have written in favor of Veliaj with the aim of pressuring the justice system to give a more lenient measure to the mayor of Tirana.

Together with SPAK, a series of judicial levels, up to the Supreme Court, have put Veliaj behind bars, proving that blackmail or sponsored articles no longer decide the justice of individuals or political figures who until yesterday were considered untouchable./CNA