Threats against media outlets and organizations by PM Rama, 26.02.2025, Tirana

Translations: Tirana 

On February 26, 2025, Prime Minister Edi Rama delivered a combative speech at a Socialist Party parliamentary group meeting in which he reacted to ongoing corruption investigations and criticisms from media and civil society. The immediate backdrop was the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution (SPAK) issuing 24 arrests or security measures against officials of the Agricultural University of Tirana. Rama had announced a day before that the university’s rector requested to speak to a Socialist Party meeting and this request was accepted. This move drew sharp criticism as an improper political intrusion into judicial matters. In his speech, Rama defended his actions and launched attacks on three fronts: so-called “special journalists,” the conduct of SPAK, and a prominent critic, Afrim Krasniqi, Executive Director of the Institute for Political Studies (ISP). 

Rama’s address included pointed references to “gazetarë specialë” or “special journalists.” He used this term in a negative connotation to describe reporters who frequently break news on SPAK operations, implying they receive illicit leaks and sensationalize investigations. He complained it was “inconceivable” that an official under investigation (in this case, MP Klotilda Bushka) learned of the accusations from television, “listening to special journalists who have investigative secrets, who have food that comes to them from the train station to be thrown into the big food market and to be ground up in the streets of hooliganism”. This colorful metaphor insinuated that certain reporters are fed information through murky channels (“the train station”) to create a public spectacle (“big food market… streets of hooliganism”). In essence, Rama accused these journalists of unethically colluding with law enforcement to conduct a trial by media. He warned prosecutors to break relations with “special journalists,” a declaration that was perceived as a threat to independent media and the prosecutors. 

By branding investigative reporters as “special” operators with hidden agendas, the Prime Minister sought to discredit the critical media and cast doubt on their motives. This is consistent with Rama’s past pattern of attacking journalists who challenge his government.

Albanian journalist Klodiana Lala, one of the reporters covering SPAK cases, publicly pushed back. She asserted it’s her job to report on justice matters and “not up to editor-in-chief Edi Rama” to tell her how to do it, noting that if her reporting were false the government could sue for defamation. 

Throughout the speech, Rama also sharply criticized SPAK (the Special Prosecution) and the Special Court (GJKKO), accusing them of overreach and heavy-handed tactics. He claimed the new justice institutions had “violated human rights with investigative processes similar to the methods of the former State Security” (a reference to the communist-era secret police). This rhetoric was prompted by SPAK’s arrest of Tirana’s Mayor Erion Veliaj (a key ally of Rama) and the investigation of Socialist MP Klotilda Bushka in the same corruption case. He stressed that while his party would not declare anyone under investigation innocent, it also “will not remain silent” anymore when faced with what he views as abuses of power by prosecutors. These statements carry serious implications for judicial independence. Opposition leaders have also routinely exerted pressure on SPAK (for instance, former PM Sali Berisha often denounces SPAK as a tool of the government when it charges his associates). This bipartisan habit of pressuring prosecutors – whether to push them into action or to discredit their investigations – jeopardizes the fragile progress made in distancing Albania’s justice system from political control. It may intimidate prosecutors or judges handling sensitive cases, undermining the separation of powers and the rule of law.

A particularly striking element of Rama’s speech was his personalized attack on Afrim Krasniqi, a well-known political analyst and head of the Institute of Political Studies. Krasniqi had openly criticized Rama’s announcement about the hearing with the university rector at the SP party meeting, calling it “absurd… a violation of the constitution and the law” and an act that “undermines justice and the separation of powers”.

In response, Rama devoted a significant portion of his February 26 remarks to ridiculing and vilifying Krasniqi. According to Krasniqi’s count, the Prime Minister “spent 1 hour denigrating anyone who thinks differently” and mentioned Afrim Krasniqi by name 21 times during the speech. Rama mockingly referred to Krasniqi as “shoku Afrim” (comrade Afrim) and coined a pun calling out “Afrimët dhe Largimët” – literally “the Afrims and the Departures” – implying that Krasniqi and others like him were fickle or quick to disappear when principles are truly tested. Rama accused Krasniqi of hypocrisy, claiming these critics “remained silent” when SPAK’s chief prosecutor was under attack by the opposition, yet now speak up to accuse the government of undermining justice. This rhetoric not only belittled Krasniqi personally but also suggested that loyalty to the ruling party (rather than independent watchdogs or even international allies) is the only thing safeguarding justice – a claim that elevates the party above independent institutions.