Breaking the links between politics, business and illicit activities in the Western Balkans

The UK Prime Minister has tasked me with strengthening the UK’s relationship with the six Western Balkan countries – through more trade and investment, increased energy security, cultural cooperation, security and defense, and a common fight against organized crime.

I am a frequent guest to countries in the region and have just returned from Tirana, Skopje and Podgorica, where I heard a message loud and clear from people from all walks of life: young people are leaving, driven by lack opportunities, believing they cannot succeed if they lack political connections and are frustrated by entrenched corruption. They ask us to help build a better society and hold their leaders accountable.

Institutions, civil society, journalists and criminal justice officials strive to build prosperous and secure democracies. Most of the real efforts will be on the ground in the Western Balkans – efforts by honest prosecutors, fearless journalists, dedicated police officers and visionary leaders. In Albania, with justice reform, the Special Anti-Corruption Agency (SPAK) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), we are benefiting from a favorable wind for change.

The United Kingdom stands with you in this endeavour. Progress is being made. Some people who previously felt immune are now in prison. But others continue to operate as if they enjoy impunity for wrongdoing, as if the rule of law does not apply equally to everyone.

This is why we are intensifying our efforts to sever the links between politics, business and illicit activities, both globally and in the Western Balkans. Since its launch, we have designated 27 individuals involved in serious corruption around the world under our global anti-corruption sanctions regime. A new foreign entities register, requiring people behind foreign companies with UK property to reveal their identities, will be created under the Economic Crime Act. And we have created a new “kleptocracy cell” based within the National Crime Agency, to target sanctions evasion and corruption of Russian assets hidden in the UK.

This week, we took disruptive action against several Albanian individuals with well-known and documented links to crime and corruption. This is the first wave in a series of actions designed to encourage accountability and end impunity. The UK has a range of tools to destabilize individuals linked to crime and corruption, including immigration and economic disruption. The details of these actions are not always public.

The support that some public figures receive from criminals in exchange for their corruption drowns out the voice of the Albanian people. As the OSCE report on international observation of last year’s parliamentary elections shows, vote buying and misappropriation of public funds remain a major problem in Albanian politics. As long as politicians are able to work with criminals to buy, blackmail and intimidate voters, Albanian democracy will remain fragile and incomplete. Further electoral changes and reforms are needed now.

Organized crime and corruption in Albania – and the region as a whole – also mean that huge sums of state money, collected from ordinary taxpayers, never reach schools, hospitals and roads that Albanians need to build a healthy and prosperous society.

For all of you in Albania and the region fighting for reform, I also have a message: we will support you in your judicial reforms, which have helped eliminate corrupt officials and led to the prosecution of powerful figures. We will support you in reforming your elections and in all your efforts to promote transparency, accountability and democracy. We will help strengthen civic engagement by holding government to account.

We salute these courageous investigative journalists who exposed corruption and the links between politics, business and crime – often in the face of violence and intimidation of criminals. They must continue to do so with the full protection of governments and law enforcement and with the support of those who cherish freedom.

We stand with you in your efforts to build the state your people deserve.

The UK’s message to those involved in crime or corruption is: promoting crime or corruption – whether in the Western Balkans or elsewhere – will not be without consequences and you will not be welcome UK. Individuals who do this harm their society and their state. Whether through sanctions, immigration measures or non-engagement policies, the UK will act to root out corruption and organized crime.

Together, we will ensure that no one is above the law.