The threads that the DP pulled to reach the US message that excluded Rama

2025-05-31 08:42:00, Politikë CNA

The latest statement by the US embassy in Tirana regarding the May 11 elections has raised many questions for two simple reasons. First, because it is far more discreet than the one regarding Edi Rama's victory four years ago, and second, because it is far colder than the congratulations that the US has extended to the winning leaders in the Balkans, who held elections at the same time as us.

The first blow is that Rama is neither congratulated nor mentioned. The concise statement simply states: “We congratulate the people of Albania on the parliamentary elections and look forward to continuing our close partnership with Albania.” It contrasts like night and day with the position that the State Department took on the 2021 elections. There, spokesman Ned Price not only stated clearly that his country “recognized the result.”

The threads that the DP pulled to reach the US message that excluded Rama

As if that weren't enough, it emphasized: "We congratulate Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Socialist Party on their electoral victory," adding that "the result had to be accepted by everyone." So in 2025, no congratulations for Rama, no statement recognizing the result, no call for the losers to accept it.

This would be considered normal if the new Trump administration had used a more reserved language in all the statements issued about the elections in countries close to us. But this has not happened at all. It is enough to compare the message of the Tirana embassy with that for the presidential elections in Romania, which took place immediately after ours. It should be known that an anti-Trumpist candidate won this race. US Vice President Vance criticized these elections in his Munich speech as a refusal of the elites to listen to the voice of the people. But despite all these divergences, the US embassy in Bucharest announced that they are looking forward to cooperating with the new president, Nicu?or Dan, as well as with the new government that will be installed.

So the Bucharest embassy, ??unlike the one in Tirana that congratulated the people, addressed the winner by name. “We look forward to cooperating with Nicu?or Dan, as President of Romania, and with the new government, to promote our common priorities, such as defense, energy and trade partnerships,” the Romanian embassy wrote on Facebook.

So, even if compared to the previous positions that the US has held towards Rama, even if compared to the position that this new administration has held in similar cases, it seems clear that there is a strong flaw in the trajectory towards the Albanian government.

Many explain this change of course with the fact of lobbying and the connections that the DP has created with the people who stand in Trump's anteroom in the White House. A few days ago, the DP did not hide that it is contesting the elections in the US State Department. And for this, it seems that the lobbying company "Continental Strategy" in Washington has been charged, which is paid 250 thousand dollars a month for each service it provides to the Albanian opposition.

In the "preliminary report" submitted by this company to the Department of Justice on May 16, the DP insisted on an "international investigation" into the elections as well as the creation of a "technical government" to organize free elections.

But it is important to understand what “Continental Strategy” is and what its effects on the current administration may be. “Continental Strategy” was founded by people very close to President Trump. In fact, it seems like a product created by his inner circle, as is common in America, where characters close to those who go into the administration create companies to have legal opportunities to influence them. The one who signed the services contract with the DP is Carlos Trujillo, the founder of this company in 2021, a former advisor and lawyer to Trump. But there is more than that. It also includes Katie Wiles, the daughter of Susie Wiles, Trump's former campaign manager together with La Civita and who today serves as the full-fledged chief of staff of the American president. Alberto Martinez, former chief of staff to the current Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is also part of the same company.

So it doesn't take much to understand that this team has a strong possibility of influence in US foreign policy. Was this route used to convey the American position on the Albanian elections? There are still no facts about this. But so far two things are known. The first is that "Continental Strategy" has submitted the opposition's report on the electoral farce and the second is that a statement came out of it that, unlike four years ago, neither personally congratulated Edi Rama, nor did it say that it recognized the elections, nor did it call on the parties to accept them./ Lapsi.al