Albania: Until the early 1990s, it was a bit like North Korea but in Europe. Demarcated both to the east and to the west.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has been in power for 11 years. His work has been characterized by rigorous domestic policy on the one hand and western-oriented foreign policy on the other. While Europe’s heads of government have been courting Albania at summits for years, there are regular violent protests in parliament and on the streets of Albania against an increasingly autocratic regime. The accusations: nepotism and a government that is involved in international drug trafficking right up to the highest levels.

Albania’s accession to the EU has been seen as a geostrategic necessity at least since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In order to stand up to aggressive players such as China and Russia, the EU is apparently prepared to look past clear failures in terms of democracy and freedom of the press. Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama and his clique are now benefiting from this.