Imagine your country, supposedly a democracy, is run by corrupt Socialists as a one-party state. They stay in power by suppressing the media, stuffing ballot boxes, and outlawing the opposition. Their crime-ridden edifice is fueled by mafia money since a decade of Socialist rule has made your country a full-fledged narco-state. Meanwhile, the global Soros network shields you from international scrutiny.
This sounds like any conservative’s definition of hell, a bad movie. Except it’s Albania’s reality. That American ally and NATO member since 2013 has been converted into Europe’s sole narco-state, a major player in the global illegal drug trade, with the bizarre support of the Biden administration.
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This May brought local elections in Albania. These delivered big wins for the Socialists by implausible vote margins. Indeed, the results were so fishy that even Balkan-watching nongovernmental organizations, which tend to be left-wing, deemed them suspicious . Prime Minister Edi Rama and his ruling party have done a thorough job of staying in power by any means.
Rama’s international friends are on call to assist.
Albania’s leader celebrated July 4, America’s Independence Day (and Rama’s birthday), with a visit by former President Bill Clinton, who came accompanied by Alex Soros, who recently took over the global operations of his famous father’s network. The younger Soros, who visits out-of-the-way Tirana with surprising regularity, enjoys close rapport with Rama, whom he has repeatedly hailed as "my brother." It seems worthwhile to ask why Soros has such a strong interest in a small Balkan country that is hardly an important player on the world scene, at least outside the illegal narcotics trade.
Rama continues to have the support of the Biden administration, which may be linked with that robust Soros backing. The embarrassing case of the former FBI senior official Charles McGonigal, who was indicted by the Feds earlier this year, including alleged shady dealings in Albania in tandem with Rama, appeared ready to expose some of the sordid backroom deals between Tirana and Washington. However, after a big media splash in the late winter, the McGonigal case has faded from view.
Beltway insiders assess that the Justice Department is in no rush to bring McGonigal to trial since that courtroom would hear explosive revelations of FBI corruption which may extend beyond McGonigal himself. Knowing this, the disgraced G-Man and his lawyers seem to be in no hurry to reach a plea deal. Both sides appear to be running the clock.
Moreover, intelligence community insiders tell me the Biden administration doesn’t want more bad news regarding its Albanian friends. On multiple occasions, U.S. intelligence has produced detailed classified information regarding Albania-based narco-trafficking all over the world, from South America to West Africa, plus across Europe. If you buy illegal narcotics in most of Europe, it got to you via Albanian mafia hands.
Yet, the Drug Enforcement Administration shows no interest in going after "big fish" when it comes to Albania’s cash-flush narco-empire. U.S.-backed arrests, when they happen at all, involve small players only. The DEA’s lethargy is mystifying to intelligence community veterans since our spy agencies possess no shortage of intelligence regarding Albania’s leading role in the illegal drug trade, stretching all the way to the top in Tirana.
Will things change?
Well, some senior officials in Washington have grown weary of Rama’s corrupt, anti-democratic habits. This seems to be happening in slow motion, discreetly, behind closed doors. Still, intelligence insiders tell me that the FBI has informed Rama that the criminal escapades he performed with McGonigal’s help are no longer acceptable to the United States. "Clean up or get out" was the reported FBI message to Tirana here.
What happens next is anybody’s guess. After a decade in power, it will be difficult for Rama to simply step aside. Moreover, as long as the Socialists keep rigging elections, nothing may change in Albania anyway. To boot, the support of the Soros family with its wealth has been pivotal to Socialist rule in Tirana.
Republicans in Congress should have questions about what’s really going on here and why the Biden White House keeps tolerating these rogue Balkan antics.
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John R. Schindler served with the National Security Agency as a senior intelligence analyst and counterintelligence officer.
