In December, we uncovered a case of disloyalty on the part of Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, a mid-level bureaucrat at the European Commission who was, until a few days ago, Director for the Western Balkans. Its boss, Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, tried last September to resolve a tangled situation in Albania caused by unilateral measures and a breakdown in consensus by Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Rama’s ruling majority changed the constitution and electoral rules, ignoring a previous deal with the opposition brokered by the EU and the US.
Varhelyi convinced President Ilir Meta and opposition leader Lulzim Basha to refer the case to the Venice Commission, a body of eminent Council of Europe jurists. Rama found a way out of a conflict that could have had negative consequences for the general elections scheduled for April.
Behind the scenes, Varhelyi insisted that the Venice Commission should deal with the issue of Albania as a priority. He likely learned in the December article that his subordinate, Calavera, was making calls with the same body in an attempt to sabotage his efforts. He asked that Meta’s request be denied. According to him, the Venice Commission should recommend legislative changes and that the Albanian Parliament respect the changes and act on them. But that would jeopardize the April elections and perfectly reflect Rama’s public argument.
The December article was widely published in the Albanian media. Some commentators, and even politicians, have peppered him with new accusations about Calavera’s misconduct. At that time, no harm could be done because opinion was open. It was a damning denunciation of Rama’s abuse of power to increase his chances in the April 25 general election.
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What surprised many was a pre-Christmas tweet from Varhelyi in which he expressed his confidence in Calavera and exposed false accusations in media and social networks about him. Who thought it was an exaggeration esprit de corps, or even as a variant of Stockholm syndrome – honi the one who thinks badly!
This curious French phrase in the English coat of arms sums it up. Varhelyi was shot by Skull; not exactly looted in disgrace and ridiculed rue de la Loi. This is not the style that prevails at the European Commission. Calavera was ultimately left in the translation unit, where she can no longer do political damage.
We have written in recent years about irresponsible and even arrogant senior Commission officials who usually ignore Commissioners and do whatever they want. They are the main reason for the famous “democratic deficit” within the EU.
The Treaty of Lisbon attempted to resolve this problem by empowering the European Parliament and strengthening the accountability of the Commission. It was the right thing to do. Yet bureaucratic inertia escaped reality. Since then, many Commissioners have failed to understand their true power and responsibility. In some cases, they have shown no interest in them.
Commissioner Varhelyi deserves applause for calmly calling things by name and acting on them. His good relationship with von der Leyen has surely helped him.
The Commission’s Nasty Squad, which allowed much of Rama’s authoritarianism, state capture, and underworld collusion, has now lost Calavera. Federica Mogherini left a long time ago, Johannes Hahn was denied the enlargement portfolio and Matuella, the head of the Albania unit in the enlargement department, was dismissed and fired, as was Calavera.
Luigi Soreca, the EU Ambassador to Tirana who was mentioned along with Calavera in Varhelyi’s now famous pre-Christmas tweet, is still present. Our sources in the EU delegation tell us that they are not sure if he represents the EU vis-à-vis the Albanian authorities or if he rather plays the role of Rama’s messenger for Brussels and its national audience. Soreca recently tested positive for COVID-19. We wish him good health and will only take care of him after his full recovery.
Did we miss anyone? Romana Vlahutin, for example? It no longer deals with Albania. Like Calavera and Matuella, he still has a luxurious job at the Commission. We were the first to expose their real estate transactions involving EU taxes paying triple the market price for an Ambassador’s residence. The then chairman of the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee, Ingeborg Graessle (Germany, EPP), called the purchase “the best way for us to lose credibility while calling on Albania and others to fight back against corruption “.
Since then, we have seen reports, evidence and witnesses that point to Ms. Vlahutin’s irregularities in Albania. When it is fully verified, we will come back to it. If so, we expect OLAF to behave a little better than on the previous occasion.
In the meantime, we wish Varhelyi a good hand in filling the vacancies.