In an interview for Voice of America, the Director of the Office for Southeastern and Central Europe, Jonathan Moore, declared that institutional conflicts need to be resolved legally and not politically, referring to the clash between the President and the government for the competence issue. He also valued the government's reforms for the EU candidate status in June.
"Eight months have passed and the government is working for a number of priorities, such as the EU candidate status. The government has been effective in this direction, and this is the goal of the opposition. As it has happened in several countries, there have been questions about some of the first phase decisions of the government, if they were taken for political reasons or for a longer term strategy. The government has worked intensively so far for Albania's EU integration", Moore declared.
As for the conflict between the government and the president, and the deep polarization of politics:
"We are concerned about that. We are aware of the polarization of the situation in Albania's politics and press, but we trust in the people's abilities to tell real facts from what politics and the press offers them. We want to see responsibility from the government and the opposition, so that they can find common grounds on which they can cooperate", Moore declared.
"Our view is that we want to see institutions work normally. The people must trust them and the work they do. For some of the issues raised by the president, he is using the right legal mechanisms, addressing to the Constitutional Court, such as the replacing of Mr.Xhuka, Director of the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets. This is a practical step. In many countries, not only Albania, there are similar disagreements between the government and the President. This is an important moment for the president and the Prime Minister to show how successful is the Albanian democracy. The President represents the entire country, the Prime Minister is responsible for the entire country, and that's why this should be a public debate issue, and if there are disagreements, they need to be resolved legally, not politically", Moore declared.
Corruption remains a problem and the respective authorities need to face it. For Washington, the new government needs more time.
"They have been in power for only eight months. One of the main elements in the fight against corruption is attacking it with acts, not only words. For this we need to see the Prosecutor General, Adriatic Lallla, investigating any fact against officials in the central or local government, and not to see the so called 'public trials' through the media or politicians who accuse their predecessors. These cases should be resolved through the judiciary", the US diplomat declared/top channel/..