Reeker: US not to become Albanian interior policy arbitrator

Ambassador Reeker, an experienced official in Balkan affairs, made comments Wednesday at a forum organised by the Atlantic Council in Washington, the Voice of America reports.

He said Albania continues to be one of the strongest allies of the United States in Southeast Europe.

“But we are not proud of the current political situation in Albania”, Reeker said.

Responding to a question of the Voice of America, Reeker said that the institutional path is the only way to overcome the current crisis.

We are not proud of Albanians these past weeks because they did not use the institutions they have. You cannot simply boycott parliament or turn over the mandates. Those institutions must be used, courts should be used, members of the constitutional court must be appointed, so that through the Constitution and the use of these means difficult political times are exceeded. The United States will not become an arbitrator of Albania's internal policies, but we will continue to encourage all parties to work together with institutions and take appropriate steps to move forward. And if institutions don't work, then work to change them through the constitutional principles you have”, Reeker said.