What does Berisha say about the issue of Russian funding in DP?
2022-09-16 12:44:55
TiranaPost
Berisha spoke today for the first time about the issue of Russian financing of the DP. At the weekly press conference, Berisha says that years ago, in 2018, he became aware of this scandal. He tells how he did not believe the file that the American ambassador Donald Lu left on his desk, but he believed the explanation that Lulzim Basha (leader of the DP at that time) gave him.
"Regarding the Basha affair, we clarify the following.
In 2018, Ambassador Lu brought me a dossier and a Mother Jones article that said funding had been received from the Russians.
Lulzim Basha, asked by me, asked me that the money paid by Nick Muzin is money collected from the diaspora in America in accordance with the laws and regulations.
I believed the latter version.
Later, I was informed that Basha was being held hostage with this case and that with the intervention of the police, he was not tried.
Later I was informed that Basha had lied and that he had not collected donations in America. Here I came to the conclusion that the funding could be Russian.
Under these conditions, the responsibility is not DP's, but Lulzim Basha's personal responsibility", said Berisha.
It was CNN, BBC and AFP who published the news two days ago that the Russian government has financed several political parties to increase its influence, and among them the Democratic Party has been financed, in the 2017 elections, with 500 thousand dollars.
