Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha declared "America is great" on June 11 after announcing that the US had lifted the sanctions that barred him and his family from entering the country, ending a designation that has affected Albanian politics for more than five years.

The former president and prime minister, who heads the opposition Democratic Party, arrived at parliament smiling and joking with colleagues after what he described as official confirmation that the restrictions had been removed.

"I'm back. I'm back!" Berisha repeatedly told reporters gathered outside the parliamentary building, according to a transcript published by the Democratic Party.

The move, which had not been confirmed publicly by the US Embassy in Tirana at the time of writing, would represent a major political victory for the veteran politician, who has long argued that the sanctions were politically motivated and designed to weaken Albania's opposition.

When asked whether the decision applied only to him or also to his relatives, Berisha insisted that the restrictions had been mischaracterised from the outset.

"Sali Berisha has never been non-grata. Rest assured," he said. "If you want, I'll tell you now, Sali Berisha has never been non-grata. There was a sanction, the visa."

Pressed by journalists over whether the US had effectively reversed the decision announced by then secretary of state Antony Blinken in 2021, Berisha again rejected the terminology that has become commonplace in Albanian political discourse.

"Now once again, you are not wrong to ask, because my opponents called it non-grata and I did not object to it," he said. "Once again, there was an entry ban for the reasons you mentioned in the US"

Asked whether the measure had now been lifted for both him and his family, he answered simply: "Today I say I'm back. I'm back!"

The Democratic Party issued an official statement confirming that there had been "official communication regarding the lifting of sanctions by the US" and repeating Berisha's argument that he had never formally been declared persona non grata but had instead been subject to a visa ban.

Berisha also celebrated the development on social media, linking it to his broader campaign against Prime Minister Edi Rama.

"Edi Rama's departure has been, remains and will be our fundamental condition to restore true political pluralism, functional democracy and the rule of law to Albania," he wrote on Facebook.

"As it is evidenced every day by the thousands of Albanians who have filled the streets of Tirana and the whole country, Edi Rama represents the greatest evil Albania has known since [communist dictator] Enver Hoxha."

In a separate post, he added: "Again, America is great, to you and to me the truth is greater!"

The sanctions were imposed by the US State Department on May 19, 2021, shortly after parliamentary elections won by Rama's Socialist Party. Blinken announced that Berisha and members of his immediate family would be barred from entering the United States because of what Washington described as "significant corruption”.

At the time, Blinken said Berisha had been involved in "corrupt acts" that had "undermined democracy in Albania" and declared that "Berisha and members of his immediate family are ineligible for entry into the United States."

The designation transformed Albania's political landscape. It deepened divisions within the Democratic Party, eventually leading to Berisha's exclusion from its parliamentary group before he regained control of the party after a prolonged internal power struggle. The sanctions also became a key argument used by Rama and the governing Socialists to question the opposition's credibility.

Berisha has consistently denied all allegations against him, describing the US decision as an abuse of power driven by political interests rather than evidence of wrongdoing.

In January, after Donald Trump returned to the White House, Berisha publicly announced plans to seek a review of the decision by the new administration.

The reported reversal comes at a sensitive moment in Albanian politics. The country has seen days of anti-government demonstrations, initially sparked by opposition to a planned luxury tourism development associated with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, but which have broadened into a wider expression of dissatisfaction with the government.

Environmental activists, civil society organisations and left-wing groups have driven the protests, which have now continued for nearly two weeks. Demonstrators have called for the resignation of Rama's government, while slogans heard during marches have included both "Rama in prison" and "Berisha in prison”.

Early on in the protests, Berisha publicly backed the development, broadcaster Top-Channel TV reported earlier in June. However, he has since endorsed the calls for Rama’s removal, voicing support for protesters mobilising against the prime minister.

The development also follows a wider pattern under the Trump administration of reassessing sanctions imposed on political figures in southeastern Europe. Last year, the United States lifted sanctions against Milorad Dodik, the former president of Bosnia's Serb Republic, reversing measures originally imposed over allegations of corruption and actions viewed by Washington as undermining the 1995 Dayton peace agreement.

Berisha remains under legal pressure in Albania. In September 2024, the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) charged him with corruption over allegations that he helped facilitate a lucrative property development benefiting his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi. Both men deny the accusations.

The politician is also subject to separate sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom in 2022 over alleged links to corruption. His appeal against those measures was rejected by a British court.