Albanians vote in election after a campaign dominated by uphill efforts to join the EU

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanians voted Sunday in parliamentary elections after a boisterous campaign dominated by the country’s uphill effort to join the European Union and Prime Minister Edi Rama’s bid for a fourth term in office.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. Sunday and vote counting is expected to conclude within 48 hours in an election in which 140 lawmakers will be selected to four-year terms.

Because of mass emigration, the country of 2.8 million people has about 3.7 million eligible voters. For the first time, those in the diaspora — about 191,000 so far this time — could vote, casting their ballots by mail.

Rama’s Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years, sticking to its ambitious pledge while battling conservative opponents with public recriminations and competing promises of pay hikes.

Opening up the election to voters abroad for the first time has added to the volatility, along with the appearance of new parties, a shift in campaigning to social media and a recent TikTok ban.

Voting was largely peaceful, with just a few skirmishes involving candidates and supporters around the country. Officials put preliminary voter turnout at 41.4%, 4% lower than it was in 2021.

“For the most part, excluding some sporadic cases, the process has been in line with the rules and standards,” said Ilirjan Celibashi, the head of the Central Election Commission.

Rama, 60, who secured the start of EU membership negotiations last October, highlighted achievements in infrastructure and justice reform in his campaign.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is pressing Albania to continue reforms — particularly in governance and anti-corruption efforts — to stay on track for EU membership.

Rama’s main challenger is Sali Berisha, 80, a former president and prime minister, who argues that Albania still isn’t ready for EU membership. He started the campaign borrowing from U.S. President Donald Trump's slogan, which he changed to “Make Albania Great Again,” but eventually settled on “Grandiose Albania.”

Berisha wore a blue baseball cap marked with a No. 1, the party’s position on the ballot. Rama sported a black cap emblazoned with the Socialist Party’s No. 5.

Berisha claimed they had won in all the traditional center-right areas, adding that counting should not take place under pressure.

“Nothing can change. People have spoken decisively," he said.

Economic concerns have been central to the campaign.

The Socialists say they will accelerate a tourism boom, from 10 million arrivals in 2024 to 30 million by 2030, diversifying destinations by expanding infrastructure projects.

The Democrats argue that the government’s dismal performance has driven more than 1 million Albanians to leave the county over the past decade.

After casting his ballot, Berisha called on Albanians to vote “for themselves, for their children, their pensions and salaries, employment, business, their farm.”

Both parties made similar promises on minimum pensions, an average monthly salary and a minimum wage – all about 20% or higher than current levels.

But analyst Lutfi Dervishi considered that scenario unlikely.

“It’s a campaign without debate and results without surprises,” he said. “Elections won’t shake up the current scene — neither the system nor the main actors.”

Despite Albania’s significant improvement in Transparency International’s corruption index — rising from 116th in 2013 to 80th in the ranking in 2024 — corruption remains the country’s Achilles’ heel and a stumbling block for European integration.

Sweeping judicial reforms launched in 2016 with support from the EU and U.S. led to investigations and prosecutions of senior officials. Several former ministers, mayors and high-ranking officials have been jailed, while others face ongoing investigations.

Despite promises of cleaner governance, both major parties are fielding candidates facing corruption allegations. Berisha himself has been charged with corruption and is awaiting trial.

While Rama’s Socialists take credit for the reformed judiciary, Berisha has vowed to dissolve it, describing it as a tool of the Rama government’s selective justice.

Social media has become a primary vehicle for campaigning. Rama hosted daily Facebook livestreams to engage with voters. Berisha followed suit, though less frequently.

The government has imposed a 12-month ban on TikTok, citing concerns over incitement and online bullying. Opposition parties condemned the move as censorship.

A code of conduct introduced by the Albanian ombudsman to encourage ethical campaigning fell flat as political discourse grew increasingly toxic. Rama described Berisha as a “swamp owl” — a metaphor for graft — while Berisha branded Rama as a “chief gangster.”

More than 570 international observers monitored this year’s parliamentary election. They have planned a news conference Monday afternoon.

Ballot boxes are carried following the end of the voting procedure in Albania's parliamentary election after a boisterous campaign dominated by the country's uphill effort to join the European Union and Prime Minister Edi Rama's bid for a fourth term, in Tirana, Albania, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Ballot boxes are checked following the end of the voting procedure in Albania's parliamentary election after a boisterous campaign dominated by the country's uphill effort to join the European Union and Prime Minister Edi Rama's bid for a fourth term, in Tirana, Albania, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Sali Berisha, center, leader of Democratic Party of Albania, makes statements outside a voting station during a general election where rival Socialist Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo)

Sali Berisha, leader of Democratic Party of Albania, is seen during a voting procedure at a general election where rival Socialist Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo)

Sali Berisha, leader of Democratic Party of Albania, leaves a voting station during a general election where rival Socialist Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo)

Albania's Socialist party leader Edi Rama stands behind a booth ahead of casting his ballot, during a general election where Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister, in Tirana, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Sali Berisha, leader of Democratic Party of Albania, casts his ballot during a general election where rival Socialist Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister in Tirana, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo)

Albania's ruling Socialist party leader Edi Rama, center, and his wife Linda, left, leave a voting station during a general election where Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Albania's ruling Socialist party leader Edi Rama casts his ballot during a general election where Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minister, in Tirana, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

A woman casts her ballot during a general election, as Prime Minister Edi Rama is seeking a fourth term as Albania's prime minisster in Tirana, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

A man checks documents during a general election in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Voters prepare their ballots during a general election in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

A man prepares to vote during a general election in Tirana, Albania Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

People pass a billboard of the opposition Democratic Party (ASHM) that reads "Vote Grandiose Albania, 1,200 euros average salary, 10% flat tax," in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Supporters of Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama wave flags of their country during his main election campaign rally in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025, as his ruling Socialist Party (PS) seeks a fourth term. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama speaks during his main election campaign rally in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025, as his ruling Socialist Party (PS) seeks a fourth term. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

An employee handles the mail-in ballots , as Albania is heading to the polls on Sunday with Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks a fourth term, in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale inflation cooled last month, despite worries that President Donald Trump’s tariffs would push prices higher for goods before they reach consumers.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index was unchanged last month from May after rising 0.3% the previous month. June wholesale prices rose 2.3% from a year earlier, the smallest year-over-year gain since September. Both measures came in below what economists had expected.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so called core producer prices were also unchanged from May and up 2.6% from June 2024.

The report on wholesale inflation arrived a day after the Labor Department reported that consumer prices last month rose 2.7% from June 2024, the biggest year-over-year gain since February, as Trump’s sweeping tariffs pushed up the cost of everything from groceries to appliances.

Consumer prices and producers prices do not always move in tandem, however.

Bradley Saunders, North America economist at Capital Economics, saw some signs of the impact of Trump’s tariffs in a 0.3% increase in core wholesale goods prices. Furniture prices rose 1% from May and home electronics 0.8%, he noted. Both of those types of goods are heavily imported.

But producer prices at steel mills fell 5.5% despite Trump’s hefty 50% tax on imported steel.

Some companies bought products before Trump rolled out his tariffs and have relied on those inventories to keep a lid on prices. But Saunders warned that those inventories are running low and that Trump plans to impose stiff tariffs (such as 25% levies on Japanese and South Korean imports) starting Aug. 1.

“We are not out of the woods yet,’’ Saunders wrote in a commentary.

The producer price report showed that auto retailers' profit margins dropped 5.4%, suggesting that car dealers were eating the cost of Trump's 25% tariff on some imported cars and auto parts. That might explain why new vehicle prices fell last month in the consumer price report Tuesday.

“We doubt that auto retailers will continue to absorb the tariffs indefinitely,'' wrote Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, ”but they have room to fall a good deal further after they surged during the spike in sales as people sought to get ahead of tariffs on imported vehicles.''

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also monitor the report closely because some of its components, notably measures of health care and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index.

Inflation began to flare up for the first time in decades in 2021, as the economy roared back with unexpected strength from COVID-19 lockdowns. That prompted the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs helped bring inflation down from the peaks it reached in 2022, and last year the Fed felt comfortable enough with the progress to cut rates three times.

But it has turned cautious this year while it waits to see the inflationary impact of Trump’s trade policies. Trump has aggressively stepped up pressure on the Fed to cut rates, which has been seen as a threat to the central bank’s independence.

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