After meeting with President Bamir Topi, Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the head of the opposition, Edi Rama, US Deputy Assistant Secretary, Thomas Countryman presented the US opinion in a press conference for the Albanian media through what he defined as a lecture on democracy.

“Albania is not the only country that has corruption; it is not the only country where the results of elections are rejected; it is not the only country that organizes protests, which end with violence,” declared Countryman. He also added that “this should not stop the elections of May 8.”

Countryman expressed his support for the President of the Republic and his disappointment that the political forces in Tirana were not able to find a common language for solving the crisis.

The US State Department envoy talked about the conflict between the government and the independent institutions. He encouraged the latter to implement the law and not to be afraid from political consequences, because they have the US support.

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary asked why after one hundred protests in Albania, January 21 is considered violent? But he said that nobody should answer this question.

Countryman said that it should be the Prosecutor’s Office to give the answer, and he invited this institution to make a thorough and general investigation and to interrogate the police, the demonstrators and the organizers. He also said that the US supports the Prosecutor’s Office in the investigation of this case as the only institution that should give an answer to January 21.