OSCE – Albanian Elections at Risk Because of €2bn Dirty Cannabis Money

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – OSCE Ambassador to Tirana Bernd Borchardt has said that €2bn Euros cannabis money may be circulated to buy MPs ahead of Albania’s upcoming general elections of June 18.

Borchardt said that the cannabis cultivation problem has entered a bad spiral in Albania turning into a huge societal problem.

The head of the OSCE which is the body to monitor Albania’s next elections, added that the dirty money generated by this illegal trade could pose a huge risk for the elections.

“It means there may be over €2bn Euros dirty money is currently circulating in Albania and the risk exists that this money is used to buy MPs. These are huge risks” – said Borchard to Ora News.

In 2013 the Italian ‘Guardia di Finanza’ calculated that around 1000 tons of cannabis was produced in Albania, at a value of more than €2bn Euros. Interior Ministry data suggests that in 2014, cultivation was higher than the previous year, suggesting of huge sums of drug money circulating in the Balkan country, which the opposition democrats have said may be used by the socialist PM Edi Rama to buy election results in June.

The OSCE has supported Albania in drafting a national anti-cannabis strategy while pushing its political factions to change the electoral code in order to avoid any electoral concerns.

Borchard said that the OSCE is “pro changes of the Electoral Code in order to limit as much as possible the phenomenon of vote-buying”.

According to experts, the massive cultivation of cannabis sativa across Albania will have detrimental effects on the future of national agriculture production and will harm the economy of Albania, as this hugely profitable criminal activity has captured massive land parcels, lures local workforce and deregulated real estate and tourism sectors due to a rise in money laundering and tax evasion.

The concerns expressed by OSCE add to already expressed concerns by the opposition Democratic Party as well as the junior partner in the governing coalition LSI which have argued that extra measures have to be taken in order to guarantee the integrity of free and fair elections in June.

The European Union will keep a close eye on elections standards as well as on the implementation of justice reform before it decides to formally open accession talks with Albania on EU membership.