Is Alex Soros Helping an Allegedly Corrupt Mayor Escape Justice?

The now-former mayor of Tirana, the capital city of Albania, was Erion Veliaj, a member of their Socialist Party and close friend of Alex Soros. 

Like dozens of American politicians, Veliaj is among those pictured on Alex’s social media accounts. Just a casual Google search for “Erion Veliaj Alex Soros” brings up plenty of results. 

In a photo from September 2023, Alex posted a photo of the two at Air Albania Stadium In another photo of the two from February 2024, Veliaj was the one to post the photo of the two, with a caption referring to Alex as his “brother.” 

Veliaj has since been arrested on nine charges of corruption and money laundering in February, and is being held in jail. His wife is also under investigation, and it’s already been discovered that she made purchases of luxury items totaling nearly 900,000 Euros. For context, the maximum salary for the Mayor of Tirana is about 3,000 Euros. 

Albania’s Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) says the two made over 1 million Euros in a corrupt scheme over four years. SPAK alleges that money was laundered through non-profit organizations that his wife Ajola Xoxo controlled from businessmen who were suspected of obtaining construction permits by making corrupt payments to the non-profits. 

Alex wasn’t in on the action himself, but could he be coming to their rescue? Alex is close to Edi Rama, the socialist Prime Minister of Albania (the most powerful position in the country, even more than the President). The two have been photographed together dozens of times, with the first picture being in 2019, and the most recent being this February. 

In other words, Alex has sway there. So much so that he’s been accused of using Albania as a political laboratory, with Rama and Veliaj as the “laboratory technicians.” 

While unconfirmed Albanian media is speculating that wiretaps implicating Veliaj make mentions of Alex as someone that could bail out him and his wife. 

According to the Albanian network Syri: 

Member of the Albanian Democratic Party (a right wing party), Gent Strazimiri, in an interview commented on the recent wiretaps of Erion Veliaj, emphasizing that they confirm the accusations that the opposition has been raising since 2016.

According to him, the transcripts clearly show that Veliaj asks his wife to meet with Alex Soros, implying his influence on Albanian justice. Strazimir stated that in Albania the law does not put you in prison, but Alex makes the decisions.

He added that the justice system in the country has turned into a corrupt and politically oriented instrument. “This is not American justice, but Alex Soros’ justice,” he said. According to him, this situation should alarm all constitutional institutions and Albanian politics as a whole.

Similar to George Soros’ meddling in America’s criminal justice system, the Open Society Foundations played a role in so-called justice reform in their country, which gave the Socialist Party more power. 

The transcripts being referenced in the blockquote above include references “Aleksi,” which is Albanian for Alex. In a phone call from Valiaj to his wife just over a week after he was arrested in February, he tells her that “when Aleksi comes, things will be fixed.” He also advises her to avoid the U.S. Embassy, with it being implied that it’s because Donald Trump is in charge now. 

Genc Pollo, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Albania and former Minister of Education believes that this is a reference to Alex Soros too.

Alex hasn't made any public appearances yet in Albania. He did meet with PM Edi Rama twice, but this was at the World Economic Forum and the Munich Security Conference. 

If Valiaj and his wife do mysteriously get off, we all know why.