patrick.net

Secretary of State Antony Blinken faces international court after interfering in Albanian politics.

The Biden Administration has again stumbled its way into creating an international fiasco, this time it’s Secretary of State Blinken leading the charge of interference in election politics, focusing his attention on Albania’s former President Sali Berisha. For those not familiar with Balkan politics, Mr. Berisha is a man with a dynamic past, a staunch opponent of communism, founder of Albania’s Democratic Party, and friend of America.

Following a long career crafting Albania’s reemergence from communist oppression, Mr. Berisha has largely removed himself from direct participation in politics, preferring to aid in the promotion of like-minded conservatives and anti-socialist policies.

But Secretary Blinken shocked the region in May by announcing seemingly baseless travel sanctions against Mr. Berisha and his immediate family, barring them from entry into the United States. Secretary Blinken took to Twitter to accuse Mr. Berisha of “corrupt acts” and “undermin[ing] democracy in Albania.”


Berisha has slammed the actions by the State Department as the work of radical Left billionaire George Soros and his Open Society, an organization that claims to promote transparency and human rights in the Balkans. The ACLJ and our international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), have been exposing Soros’s outsized, radical – and what some might call corrupt – influence on the world stage.

Berisha’s claims regarding Secretary Blinken and Soros should not be dismissed so quickly. The U.S. Secretary of State’s parents, Vera and Donald Blinken, have repeatedly donated to Open Society, even creating a permanent endowment at a European-based data archive that carries their name – The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives..

Congressman Lee Zeldin (NY-1), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, recently confronted Secretary Blinken on his sudden sanctioning of Berisha. Secretary Blinken conveyed little confidence when asked for justification, stating “I don’t have anything to share.” While Blinken offered platitudes of follow-up for the Committee, no such information, or evidence, has been submitted. The circle-back saga continues.

At present, the only evidence we know of is Berisha’s staunch opposition to Soros’s political interference, which Mr. Berisha has decried as circumventing the rule of law and informal influence over the entire Balkans region. Mr. Berisha himself in 2017 called on major governments to investigate Soros’s role in regional politics and went so far as to encourage others to declare Soros “non-grata.”