Opposition lawmakers scuffled with police inside Albania’s parliament on Thursday after weeks of escalating tensions over corruption allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku and other senior officials, Reuters reported.
Lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Party lit black flares, threw water at the speaker and occupied seats reserved for government ministers in an attempt to disrupt the session as the country’s new ombudsperson was preparing to take the oath. Police intervened, pushing lawmakers away from the podium and allowing the confirmation to proceed.
STATE DEPARTMENT STAYS QUIET AS ALBANIA REINSTATES DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION
The unrest comes as Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure, known as SPAK, has requested that parliament lift Balluku’s immunity so she can be arrested on corruption charges. Parliament is expected to vote on the request on Friday.
Opposition lawmakers demanded to see the formal allegations submitted to parliament after prosecutors moved to lift Balluku’s immunity. SPAK alleges that Balluku participated in corrupt practices intended to favor companies involved in major infrastructure projects, including a tunnel and the ring road in the capital, Tirana. The projects are valued at hundreds of millions of euros.
Balluku, who also serves as minister of Infrastructure and Energy, is considered the closest ally of Prime Minister Edi Rama. His Socialist party secured a fourth consecutive term earlier this year.
According to Reuters, SPAK issued a criminal indictment against Balluku on Oct. 31, alleging she improperly favored a company in a tender for a 3.7-mile tunnel in southern Albania. Prosecutors later added a charge on Nov. 21 related to alleged violations in a Tirana road construction project, the same day a court initially removed her from office.
Balluku has denied the accusations. Addressing parliament ahead of a court appearance in November, she described the allegations as “mudslinging, insinuations half-truths and lies.”
The crisis has drawn criticism from Rama’s opponents and international scrutiny. In a Fox News Digital interview published Dec. 13, former Albanian ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations Agim Nesho said the government appeared intent on shielding Balluku rather than allowing justice to act independently, describing the situation as “state capture.”
The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the case, telling Fox News Digital it has “no comment on ongoing legal matters.”
Albania is a NATO member and a key U.S. ally in the Balkans, with Washington funding judicial reforms aimed at curbing corruption as part of the country’s bid to join the European Union.
Fox News Digital’s Beth Bailey and Reuters contributed to this report.
