US Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim says she is aware of the vote buying accusations happening just a few days before the local elections.

“Everyone has the right to vote and must vote. We’ve seen reports of vote buying and we hope that law enforcement authorities will do their job. In fact, if someone says they are buying votes for a political party, said political party must take action,” said the ambassador.

Also speaking on the matter, the Freedom Party leader Ilir Meta called the case of vote buying in Kuçova, a staging conducted by the Socialist Party. He said there is no direct relation to the same case in Tirana, where a person was arrested and another was placed under investigation, for vote buying.

“It’s clearly a game of Bledi Çuçi, who’s a delegate for the district of Berat. He stages such news that have nothing to do with the Freedom Party or are related to our candidate. There will be such stories these days, and all international diplomats know who is the one using state resources to change the people’s will. It’s just a poor staging done by Bledi Çuçi, whom you well know is a sergeant of Edi Rama, and blindly follows his orders.”

The coordinator of the Freedom Party in Kuçova was arrested, after a video emerged in media, involving him in a vote buying case.