Freedom Party Secretary General Tedi Blushi has criticized the Albanian government for failing to take measures to curb rising food prices. Comparing the situation in Albania with that in Greece, he said the Albanian government’s economic policies are placing an even greater burden on families and weakening their purchasing power.
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According to Blushi, the Greek government has taken steps to lower the prices of more than 1,600 products through an agreement involving industry, suppliers and supermarkets, with the aim of protecting consumers.
He said Albania is taking the opposite approach, as the tax burden on citizens remains high and the government is not intervening to ease the cost of living. Blushi cited Eurostat data showing that food prices in Albania rose by 3.2% in July, compared with an increase of 0.6% in the European Union.
The Freedom Party MP claimed this disparity illustrates the severe difficulties faced by Albanian families, who pay more for food despite having lower incomes and purchasing power. He described this as a consequence of Edi Rama’s government’s economic model, saying that food prices in Albania are rising five times faster than in Europe.
Blushi also said this is not a temporary phenomenon. According to him, Albania has one of the highest rates of food price growth in the Western Balkans, at 3.2%, compared with 2.7% in Kosovo and 2.3% in Montenegro.
He also highlighted data for 2025, when food prices in Albania reached 102.9% of the European Union average, while Albanians’ per capita income, according to him, stands at only around 43% of the EU average. For this reason, Blushi argued that Albanians pay European-level prices for food while living on incomes that remain among the lowest in the region.
According to him, the minimum wage and pensions in Albania continue to be among the lowest in the region, while food prices place a daily burden on families, pensioners and young people. Blushi said around €5 billion is spent on food every year and that 20.4% of GDP is used to put food on the table, a share he described as very high compared with European countries.
Blushi noted that European Union countries and other countries in the region apply reduced VAT rates to basic products, while staple foods in Albania continue to be taxed at 20%. According to him, this policy particularly harms low-income families and pensioners, who spend most of their income on food.
He accused the government of favoring wealthy citizens and its clients while placing the heaviest burden on those who have the least. Blushi compared the 6% tax rate for clientelist oligarchs with the 20% VAT paid on staple foods, adding that VAT has been abolished entirely for the wealthy who buy yachts.
According to his statement, around €5 billion is spent each year on food alone, while fully 20.4% of GDP goes toward putting food on the table, a level he considered exceptionally high compared with European countries. Blushi accused the government of collecting taxes from citizens struggling to cover basic expenses while granting concessions to billionaire investors who build towers, apartment blocks and resorts, and giving them public land for €1 per square meter.
According to Blushi, the Freedom Party has submitted two bills to Parliament aimed at directly reducing the cost of living. The first initiative provides for reducing VAT on staple foods from 20% to 5%, while the second calls for lowering fuel prices by suspending the Circulation Tax and the Carbon Tax.
Blushi described these as two concrete measures that would have a direct impact on Albanian families’ budgets and that, according to him, require only political will and a vote in Parliament, not propaganda shows.
He said Edi Rama refuses to lower taxes because his model of government relies on collecting as much revenue as possible from citizens and distributing it in line with the government’s clientelist interests. Blushi added that while Greece is considering mechanisms to reduce the prices of thousands of products, Albania’s government, according to him, is looking for ways to take even the last of its citizens’ money.
The Freedom Party, Blushi said, has an economic and social alternative set out in its “5 Priorities for 4 Million Albanians Plus” program. The program aims to halt depopulation, double pensions and wages, double support for education, and turn Albania into a producing and exporting country instead of an economy dependent on imports, consumption and high taxation.
According to him, Albania does not need more propaganda, towers and facades, but a government that provides citizens with higher incomes, food on the table, security for their families and hope for the future.
Blushi said the Freedom Party aims to reduce the cost of living and taxes on basic products, putting an end to a model in which Albanians pay like Europeans but live on very low incomes. He concluded that the priorities should be 4 million Albanians plus, a producing and exporting Albania, the Albanian family and a dignified life for every citizen.
“Under Rama, Albanians pay more and receive less. With the Freedom Party, Albanians will pay less, earn more and live better,” Blushi said.
