The Mafia State: How Albania’s Corrupt Regime Threatens Its Future and the World’s Complicity

Albania risks becoming a mafia state under Edi Rama, while the international community’s complicity normalises corruption, undermining democracy and empowering organised crime across borders.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, at the center of mounting allegations linking his administration to organised crime, addresses international relations at a press conference in Tirana, Albania, on May 22, 2024. (VX Photo/Vudi Xhymshiti).

For over a decade, Edi Rama has stood at the helm of Albania, portraying himself as the architect of the country's transformation, a moderniser, a reformer, a bridge-builder to the European Union. But beneath this carefully crafted image lies a disturbing reality that has been systematically ignored or downplayed by the international community: Albania, under Rama’s leadership, is morphing into a mafia state.

What has been unfolding in this small Balkan country is not just a national tragedy but an international scandal of breathtaking proportions. The complicity of global powers, Western governments that should be holding Albania accountable, has enabled Rama’s reign of corruption and autocracy to continue unchecked. Albania is rapidly becoming a case study in the normalisation of organised crime, a playground for the political elite and criminal networks operating with impunity, while ordinary citizens pay the price.

Yet, in this story, there is also an indictment of Albania’s own opposition forces, who have utterly failed to present a credible alternative to Rama’s mafia-like regime. The consequences for Albania’s future, and indeed for the integrity of Western foreign policy, could not be more dire.

Edi Rama’s Albania: A Mafia State in All But Name

Children hold placards bearing the image of Socialist Party leader Edi Rama during a rally in support of his leadership ahead of Albania’s general election. The event took place in Tirana on Sunday, June 21, 2009, with legislative elections scheduled for June 28. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti).

The evidence of Albania’s descent into corruption and criminality is overwhelming. As exposed in investigative reports by Rai 3’s Report, Der Spiegel, and The Washington Post, Albania under Rama has become deeply entangled with organised crime.

According to Arben Ahmetaj, Rama’s former deputy prime minister, “criminal groups obtain contracts through front men, launder money in Albania through construction, and coordinate with Edi Rama” (Rai 3, June 2023).

These words should shock any observer, but they barely register in the international discourse around Albania.