The United Kingdom has designated several Albanian citizens for their involvement in organised crime and corruption according to a statement by Sir Stuart Peach, the Special Envoy to the Western Balkans.
In March 2022, the ex-ambassador to Albania, Duncan Norman warned that there could be forthcoming sanctions against Albanians involved in criminal activity, including those with political support.
“[We] are stepping up our efforts to disrupt links between politics, business and illicit activity, both around the world and in the Western Balkans. We have designated 27 individuals involved in serious corruption around the world under our Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime since its launch,” Peach writes in his statement.
According to the statement, the UK will implement a Register of Overseas Entities that will require foreign entities that own property in the UK to reveal their identities, in an effort to target Russian asset holdings and those who try to evade sanctions.
“This week, we took disruptive action against several Albanian individuals with well publicised and documented ties to criminality and corruption. This is the first wave of a set of actions intended to encourage accountability and end impunity,” he added.
Peach addressed concerns by the OSCE report that “vote-buying and misuse of public funds continue to be a major problem in Albanian politics,” and vowed to back the country’s ongoing judicial reform.
The UK has yet to reveal the names of the Albanians targeted by these sanctions.
Previously, Norman stated that Albanian organised crime groups have a big impact on the UK.
He added that the project would work with Albanian authorities, the justice system, SPAK and the National Bureau of Investigation, as well as civil society and investigative journalists.
On the topic of sanctions, he said the government has “some options to use”, for example, the law related to immigration.
“There are procedures that exclude some people from entering the UK, but we also have other ways of freezing assets for those people who maintain such links between politics and organised crime.”
Norman added, “We can do that, but that would just be part of the story. We want that big part of the story where we make fundamental changes.”
When pressed for names, Norman refused and said the UK prefer to keeps names “off the table”.
Former British Ambassador Warns Sanctions against Corrupt Albanian Officials
