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"You can make any effort..."/ Berisha admits with his own mouth that he lobbied to enter the US, but how much did he pay?
2026-06-12 15:23:18 / POLITIKË
On May 19, 2021, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared Sali Berisha "non grata", based on a dossier of evidence of his involvement in corrupt acts such as misuse of public funds and interference with public processes by using power for personal gain, and enriching political allies including family.
Five years later, Berisha has the opportunity to enter the United States of America. A decision that would mark an important victory for him, given that since the declaration of non grata, the DP headquarters had been a no-go zone for all important American officials who had visited Albania.
This was an unwritten consequence of Berisha's non grata declaration for his corrupt actions. Since 2021, officials have avoided the leader of the Democratic Party, meeting other party representatives, but never Berisha, who was also labeled non grata at various events at the US embassy in Tirana, to which he never received an invitation, and likely never will.
Even Berisha himself is clear that the State Department's decision (on Thursday, June 11, 2026) is only an exception to the ban on entering the US, and not an expungement of the State Department's serious charges.
When asked by journalists during a conference whether " the US has also removed the labels at that time as an underminer of democracy and major corruption?" , Berisha replied: " The State Department stated: that Sali Berisha can enter the United States, and this decision was made in the interests of the United States. Period."
The US State Department's decision, which actually only affects visas to the US, is not accidental; Berisha admitted for the first time that he lobbied to influence this decision-making.
Question: "Is your and your family's permission to go to the United States a product of lobbying?"
Sali Berisha: It is a product in full compliance with the laws of the United States.
Anesti Bajramemaj: Did you lobby or not?
Sali Berisha: You can make every effort, but if United States officials consider it unsuitable for their country, everything ends in nothing.
The only question that now arises is how much Sali Berisha paid for lobbying, an activity regulated by law in the US, through which he only obtained a visa, which, as he said, it does not seem likely that he will use in the near future.
" I will go to the United States of America, but I will coordinate the trip with my friends. For now, a vacation period begins ," said Berisha.
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