Tirana Times, February 26, 2026 – Prime Minister Edi Rama carried out one of the deepest cabinet reshuffles of his fourth term, replacing officials across several of the most powerful ministries in a move that comes as his government faces rising scrutiny, swelling scandal pressure and an intensifying anti-corruption push led by Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption Structure, SPAK.
At the center of the shake-up is the removal of Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure and Energy Minister Belinda Balluku, a dominant figure in Rama’s executive and a key decision-maker behind major public investment projects. The reshuffle comes amid a criminal investigation involving Balluku, with prosecutors seeking the lifting of her parliamentary immunity, a step that could open the way for coercive measures, including possible detention. Balluku has not been convicted and there is no final court ruling, but her dismissal signals the political weight of the case for a government that has long relied on discipline, message control and tight command over strategic portfolios.
The changes extend to foreign affairs and defense, with Foreign Minister Elisa Spiropali replaced only months after taking office and Defense Minister Pirro Vengu removed after a similarly short tenure. The rapid turnover in ministries central to state credibility and national security is reinforcing perceptions that the government is responding to crisis dynamics rather than pursuing a routine reorganization.
Rama named Ferit Hoxha, Albania’s ambassador to the European Union, as foreign minister, a choice seen as a return to a career diplomat at the top of the ministry .Hoxha is a long-serving diplomat, part of the foreign service since the early 1990s, with postings that include ambassadorial roles in France and work connected to the United Nations, a profile that suggests Tirana wants steadier, more professional management of sensitive international files as domestic turbulence risks bleeding into Albania’s European track.
The Infrastructure and Energy super-portfolio shifts to Enea Karakaçi. His appointment points to continuity in operational management while also allowing Rama to sever the cabinet’s most exposed portfolio from Balluku’s political and legal troubles.
The reshuffle also reconfigures the rule-of-law and security chain, underlining how central institutional credibility has become to the government’s survival strategy. Interior and justice are reshuffled, and the appointment of a new defense minister draws attention because defense is not simply another ministry in Albania but a NATO-linked institution operating in a difficult regional environment where continuity is often valued.
The cabinet changes come against the backdrop of a broader accumulation of scandals that has chipped away at the government’s legitimacy only months into the fourth mandate. Balluku’s case is the most immediate trigger, but the government also faces fallout from a national security controversy linked to ALSAHI, where authorities say a structured criminal group operated inside a security institution with alleged links to organized crime. Together, the cases feed a wider narrative that Albania’s governance model is increasingly vulnerable to criminal penetration, state capture risks and an illicit economy intersecting with corruption and international trafficking networks, with the construction sector frequently cited by monitoring reports and international discussions as a key area exposed to money laundering and illicit capital flows.
A senior Western diplomatic voice in Tirana described the moment as the start of visible cracks in a governing model that, in Rama’s fourth term, has been widely seen as consolidating power across government, party structures and key institutions. In that view, the emerging pressure is not only political competition but a convergence of legal scrutiny, scandal accumulation and deepening public distrust.
The opposition, though divided, is trying to unify around a single demand for the government’s resignation and the formation of a transitional administration to organize elections it argues can meet international standards for being free and fair. Disputes over electoral integrity have remained persistent in Albania’s politics, with opposition parties and civic voices alleging structural imbalances and misuse of state resources in recent parliamentary elections.
The political turbulence also touches an external dimension, raising questions about how the European Union and Western partners calibrate their approach toward a country where support for EU membership remains high while domestic controversy over rule of law and democratic standards continues to grow. Critics argue that Brussels has often prioritized stability and optics over confronting deeper governance distortions and the alleged penetration of organized crime into state structures, warning that overly positive assessments risk damaging the EU’s credibility among Albanians.
Rama’s allies are expected to frame the reshuffle as decisive leadership and proof that the government can absorb shocks while allowing judicial bodies to act independently. Critics see it as a defensive reset forced by circumstances, a sign that personnel changes have become the main tool for containing a crisis that is no longer confined to individual ministers.
The key test now is whether replacing ministers can stabilize the government’s credibility, or whether SPAK’s momentum, combined with the accumulation of scandals and political polarization, has reached a point where cabinet reshuffles no longer change the underlying trajectory.
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