George Soros is a philanthropist who has chosen to invest in an open society in the United States and many countries around the world and base his career around this idea. He created the Quantum Fund in America in the late 60's, one of the most successful investment funds. The billionaire, at the end of the 80s, opened foundation offices in several Eastern European countries, and after the fall of the communist system in Albania as well.
But even though he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in former communist countries, in areas such as education, health, and in many projects with an impact on the needy, today the debate is focused on his political influence in these countries. In Albania, this debate culminated during the drafting and approval of the Law Reform 3 years ago.
"It is directly and only related to the role of justice reform and the fact that this reform has begun to give the first results, no matter how many questions and problems it has had in its progress" - says Andi Dobrushi, executive director of the Soros Foundation.
"Let's take a look at the justice reform. Let anyone tell me what the Soros Foundation wants to draw up the justice reform strategy. There is only one goal, to transform the Albanian justice system into a branch of Edi Rama's executive" - he says Sali Berisha, former president of Albania.
"We have not offered any package to the Venice Commission or to any other institution. We have financially assisted the Parliament of Albania in the work carried out by the 60 experts appointed by it. We have invested 600 thousand dollars for the Albanian Parliament practically. This is where it begins and the support of the Soros Foundation for the Reform in Justice ends" - explains Andi Dobrushi, executive director of the "Soros" Foundation.
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But the debate on the activities of the Soros Foundation in Albania is earlier than the Law Reform. Former president Berisha, against strong reservations and the incident with two employees of the Soros Foundation who were declared non-grada by him, with the argument that they were caught by the Albanian secret services while giving information to the Serbian services, appreciates the contribution of Soros in the early 90s .
"But of course this did not interrupt the relations between our country and George Soros. His investment in Albania for the establishment and support of civil society was very welcome by me. I was the president of a country, at that time the third poorest in the world. People had no opportunity to travel, they had no opportunity to secure offices, and the truth is that in this regard, the Soros Foundation, I think, was the main source of financing and creation of these organizations," Mr. Berisha asserts.
George Soros influenced Albania in the early 90s in supporting and organizing civil society. But this activity was accompanied by different opinions and often harsh judgments.
"After 4-5 years I found that this was an almost entirely one-sided investment and George Soros set up a network of associations which in 80-90% of them were levers of the former communist party, the socialist party that changed its name. It was a damage core of the role and mission of civil society" - says Sali Berisha, former president of Albania.
"In a broader framework, George Soros is a man behind progressive and liberal policies and at the same time one of the contributors to post-communist countries. So it is known that he is an anti-communist. He cannot be a man who invests in the left" - says Edlira Gjoni , head of the Center for Public Influence.
"In a foundation that works for trafficked women, you don't tell a woman whether you are left-wing or right-wing so that I can serve you and give my service. That's why I say that the money that has been poured into civil society is 80% of they went to those who needed to receive these services" - says Iris Luarasi, women's rights activist.
Protagonists of the civil society single out the merit of George Soros in providing 130 million dollars in education, medicine, in aid of the Roma and Egyptian community, in aid of the families of the victims of the Gërdec tragedy, providing legal support as well as many other projects .
"Also, we must not forget that when Berisha was president, this man financed the construction of over 200 schools. So the investments that Soros has made cannot be denied, regardless of which party has been in power" - says Edlira Gjoni, leader of the Center for Public Impact.
"Nothing is denied. And I cooperated with George Soros in the Roma decade. My government with the United Nations Organization has engaged with special interest in this direction" - says Sali Berisha, former Prime Minister of Albania.
"The problem that arose in Albania with the Soros problem is mainly related to the political program, i.e. leadership training and capacity building of political parties" - says Lavdrim Lita, co-founder of the Voice of Integration Center.
The political component is the gray area of the entire debate on the figure of George Soros. His opponents in Albania see in him a powerful supporter and financier of the left and its exponents.
"We have an imbalance of the political balance in relation to the Soros Foundation. We have a ratio of 8-2, so we have a favoring of political parties with leftist convictions and leaving aside the PD and the parties of the center-right" - argues Lavdrim Lita, co-founder of the Voice of Integration Center.
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"In the meantime, it is difficult to speculate that the support was 80% for the left and 20% for the right because I don't know who is this civil society that is left and who is right" - explains Andi Dobrushi, executive director of the Soros Foundation.
"He can say that I also financed the right-wing center, but they were nothing compared to the millions and millions that he poured into financing the former successors of the nomenklatura," says Sali Berisha, former Prime Minister of Albania.
"In the case of Mr. Basha, according to what information I have, there was an agreement between the University of Uhtret and the Soros Foundation for joint scholarships for Albanian students. And it happened that Mr. Basha was also a student at that time and benefited from them I don't believe that there was a specific scholarship for Mr. Basha" - explains Andi Dobrushi, executive director of the Soros Foundation.
"I don't know if he received a scholarship, but even if he received a scholarship, this does not mean that I will remain a slave to a scholarship. If that is the case, if I were in his place, I would return that money"- says former Prime Minister Sali Berisha
The Soros Foundation is managed by a board, in the composition of which, year after year, there have been many personalities from social and political life in Albania. Today, under the new light of the discussion and debate on the role and influence of George Soros for an open society, many names are pointed out as indicators that the philanthropist has supported the extreme left, bringing consequences for the country.
"Edi Rama himself was the head of the Soros Foundation. Linda Rama himself was the head of the Soros Foundation. Erjon Veliaj too. In a sense, the seed of unimaginable corruption was planted with his money. It's not that there was no corruption, but and has influenced" - says Sali Berisha, former Prime Minister of Albania.
"On the board of the Soros Foundation, people do not come to make a career and do not build their career from the board of the foundation, on the contrary, let's not forget that people like Ylli Popa, Ismail Kadareja have been on the board of the foundation. There has always been a balance in the composition of the board, especially in terms of beliefs as well as trends and ideas" - argues Andi Dobrushi, executive director of the Soros Foundation.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha tells 'Voice of America' that his last meeting with Mr. Soros was after the victory of the 2005 elections.
"I hosted George Soros in 2005. I won the elections and he came for Edi Rama. I hosted him at a lunch, I discussed, I defined my positions that I intend to cooperate more with the local government, and of course with the mayor of the municipality of Tirana, I intend to cooperate with the opposition. His interest in this meeting was Edi Rama."
"We have worked and cooperated with all governments, both left and right. We may have even confronted them, as was the case of Gërdec. Other cases are current. A case of a hemophiliac patient, which was won in court against the Ministry of Justice. Another issue is a patient who suffered from cancer and was not given medication by the Ministry of Health. In Tepelena, for example, against the construction of hydropower plants. We have other cases of the construction of hydropower plants in Valbona. These are legal issues that continue" - argues Andi Dobrushi, executive director of the Soros Foundation.
Regarding the question of the Voice of America that the critics say that the Democratic Party is trying to find an external enemy since it fails to be inspiring for its supporters, Mr. Berisha says that:
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"Today the opposition is the majority and it would be absurd to think that the Democratic Party would prefer as an enemy a super-speculator of the planet with an extraordinary power, because he uses money to buy politicians and politics, like no one else in the world. But the Democratic Party dares and will dare to tell the truths to his face."
The debate on the activity of billionaire George Soros and his role in supporting civil society is not simply an Albanian issue. The philanthropist is also under attack in America as he supports the Democrats and is a strong opponent of President Trump. Criticism of the Soros ideology for an open society has been criticized in recent years in several European countries, especially in Hungary and North Macedonia. The wave of this discussion raises questions about this complex figure, who became rich by investing in risk funds, and who, unlike many other billionaires, has chosen to spend part of his money on strengthening those who he calls it open societies/VOA.
