Thewesternbalkans
According to Tirana Times and New York Times , the visit of New York City Mayor Eric Adams to Tirana last week at the personal invitation of Prime Minister Edi Rama has reignited scrutiny of the Albanian leader’s expanding network of foreign political connections and associates.
Adams’ trip, has been presented as a “business and cultural” visit, but the timing and context suggest otherwise: Rama personally invited a discredited foreign official, whose administration is under investigation, to a country where the capital’s own mayor sits in jail for corruption.
For many observers in Tirana, the symbolism is striking. Adams’ visit fits a long-running pattern Rama’s cultivation of Western political figures and former officials who later become beneficiaries of advisory contracts, private deals, or privileged access. Over the years, the Albanian prime minister has surrounded himself with well-known names, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Italian Premier Massimo D’ Alema, and a rotating circle of retired Western politicians and consultants whose presence bolsters his international profile.
A Western diplomat in Tirana described the approach bluntly: “This is not diplomacy it’s a system of personal sponsorship. Rama buys international credibility to reinforce his power at home.”
The New York Times report also recalled the 2023 U.S. corruption case involving former senior FBI official Charles McGonigal, who pleaded guilty to receiving payments from an Albanian source while still in office. According to the report, Prime Minister Edi Rama was mentioned more than a dozen times in the federal indictment, which described meetings and exchanges between the two men. The indictment did not accuse Rama of any wrongdoing.
The optics of the Adams visit are particularly sensitive. While Adams is leaving office under multiple investigations, Tirana’s elected mayor, Erion Veliaj a longtime Rama ally is in prison on corruption charges. With Veliaj sidelined, Rama has effectively become the de facto mayor of Tirana and the dominant figure in all centres of power.
According to Adams’ office, the Albanian government covered his hotel and local transport costs, while New York taxpayers paid for airfare and security. To many, this reinforces the transactional nature of Rama’s dealings with foreign partners – ties that project the image of Albania as a globally engaged state while serving his own political legitimacy.
Ultimately, Adams’ visit underscores a paradox that has come to define Edi Rama’s rule: growing visibility abroad contrasted with deepening corruption scandals and eroding accountability at home. As one European observer in Tirana noted, “Every visitor adds to Rama’s narrative that Albania is admired abroad, even as institutions at home are hollowed out.”
Comments: The journalists write their articles, Rama pays whoever he needs to, and things work out for him. On the other side, Western politicians, after the end of their mandate, are known for the fact that their every appearance anywhere in the world brings them income, while their access to government money in their own country has already been suspended.
