Albania’s Democratic Party, the main opposition group, has rejected allegations by U.S. publication Mother Jones that the party received secret funds from Russian sources during last year’s parliamentary election. Mother Jones alleged in an article published Tuesday that Russian-linked companies used a U.S. lobbyist to secretly meddle in Albania’s 2017 election. According to the article Nick Muzin, a former campaign aide for U.S. President Donald Trump, was paid by “a sketchy Scottish firm called Biniatta Trade, which was formed by two Belize-based shell companies … for work in the United States to help the Democratic Party of Albania.” “It appears that Russian-related entities secretly meddled in the United States in order to meddle in an election in Albania,” the Mother Jones story said.
On Wednesday, the conservative Democrats rejected the allegations, accusing Prime Minister Edi Rama of the left-wing Socialist Party of funding a “ridiculous story … with false facts.”
“The story is the product of a wide campaign undertaken by Edi Rama, which is funded with illegal sources coming from the world of crime and corruption,” the Democrats said a statement.
Full Article: Albania opposition denies links to Russian election meddling – The Washington Post.
