Elez Biberaj

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

My take on the crisis in Albania, published in Tirana Times.

https://t.co/EhDhZUYFqT

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

The OIG report on USAGM released today underscores the strategic harm caused by the dismantling of VOA, an institution whose mission is to provide independent, fact based journalism, promote America’s democratic values, and tell the nation’s compelling story to societies where truth is contested and authoritarian narratives thrive.

VOA has long been a core instrument of American influence because its effectiveness rested on credibility. The drastic reductions in VOA’s operations severely diminished the nation’s ability to counter disinformation, support democratic aspirations, and sustain a reliable presence in critical information spaces. The OIG findings should prompt a serious effort to rebuild an agile VOA anchored in editorial independence, protected by a functioning firewall, and equipped to meet today’s global information challenges. This is the moment to return to duty VOA’s legitimate Director, Michael Abramowitz, a leader widely respected for integrity and commitment to journalistic excellence, reinstate the hundreds of journalists placed on administrative leave with pay, and rehire those unjustly removed or forced into early retirement. Restoring VOA means restoring the work of professionals whose reporting has long advanced U.S. interests through accuracy, journalistic independence, and courage.

The United States cannot afford to abandon a strategic institution whose credibility strengthens its global standing and whose absence leaves the nation disadvantaged in every contested information space.

https://t.co/zxfTwcA9UK

[savevoa @savevoanow]

The Balkans are back in Washington’s spotlight, but VOA’s Balkan services have been silent since March 2025. The region needs independent coverage of elections, corruption, and foreign interference. Tell your representative to restore the services. #SaveVOA #SerbianService

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

On this 25th anniversary of 9/11, it is important to recall the vital role that the Voice of America played in explaining America to the world during that moment of profound shock and uncertainty. VOA’s role as a trusted source of news and a lifeline of truth for millions of people worldwide is as important today as it was on 9/11. The March 2025 dismantling of VOA has denied the United States the ability to effectively explain its policies and counter anti-American narratives spread by adversaries. While the recent partial resumption of programming in several languages is a welcome development, the full restoration of VOA, as I have argued in a recent article in the Foreign Service Journal, is a strategic imperative.

https://t.co/LnVOiwsGPn

[Kim Andrew Elliott @kaedotcom]

"In a 1987 column, Charles Krauthammer came up with the 'Tirana Index.' Named for Albania’s capital, the index holds that, in Krauthammer’s words, 'repressiveness correlates with electoral success.' In 1982, the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha had won by 1,627,959 votes to 1."

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

https://t.co/TXTCPLwfcV

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

When America Falls Silent: The Strategic Costs of Dismantling VOA | American Foreign Service Association https://t.co/XmM3mkDxcI

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

Pleased to share that the Foreign Service Journal’s July–August issue features my article, “When America Falls Silent: The Strategic Costs of Dismantling VOA.”

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary and reflects on its role in the world, it is clear that VOA’s dismantling has done lasting strategic harm to America’s national interests, and a course correction is essential.

“For millions, VOA was a beacon of hope and a window into America that no other institution could replicate. Its silence has eroded the nation’s capacity to communicate clearly, credibly, and consistently with audiences that look to the United States not only for reliable information, but also as a benchmark for democratic norms, the rule of law, and press freedoms; as a model of cultural openness and pluralism; and as a counterweight to authoritarian governance. Restoring America’s voice is now an urgent strategic imperative, not a discretionary choice.”

#FSJ
#SaveVOA

https://t.co/fahgAj6op8

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

Albania’s Civic Awakening: A Year After Rama’s Landslide, the Illusion of Invincibility Breaks https://t.co/FjTsh8hfah via @withemes

[savevoa @savevoanow]

Joseph Bruns, former VOA deputy director, says audiences trust journalism that is fair, factual, and independent—not propaganda.
Independent journalism is essential to an informed public and a healthy democracy. #SaveVOA

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

Flashback: May 22, 1991

A landmark day: Ismail Kadare, Sali Berisha, and Azem Hajdari testifying before the U.S. Helsinki Commission as Albania took its first fragile steps toward political pluralism. Their words reflected the democratic hopes of a traumatized nation emerging from one of Europe’s harshest communist regimes.

Thirty‑five years later, the aspirations of that moment remain part of Albanians’ collective memory — a reminder of how far Albania has traveled and how much of that early democratic promise still invites sober reflection.

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

Today marks the 83rd anniversary of VOA’s first Albanian language broadcast on May 13, 1943 – a small service with an outsized reach and impact, a steady companion to Albanians through war, dictatorship, isolation, the fragile early years of pluralism, and the consolidation of a democratic order. Its legacy is a reminder of what VOA, at its best, made possible: providing reliable news and information to societies denied it, offering a connection to the outside world when other channels were closed, promoting America’s foreign policy interests, and upholding a standard of journalism that earned trust through accuracy, balance, and editorial independence.

But the real story is not about any particular VOA language service. It is about what the United States has chosen to relinquish. The dismantling of VOA in March 2025 – shuttering 47 language services and subsequently resuming only limited programming in six – represents a profound retreat from the global information landscape. An institution that once served as America’s trusted explainer, presenting the country, warts and all, with accuracy, balance, and independence, played a role few others could: it promoted America’s democratic values, provided a lifeline for information deprived societies, and served as a strategic asset that advanced U.S. interests precisely because it was trusted.

At a time when America’s adversaries are expanding their global media footprint and amplifying anti American narratives, the United States cannot afford to silence its most credible voice or cede the narrative to others. Restoring VOA is essential if America intends to stay engaged in the global information arena and to shape the conversation rather than be shaped by it.

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

Kari Lake’s nomination as ambassador to Jamaica creates an opportunity that must be seized to restore the Voice of America and revive one of the United States’ most effective instruments of soft power and global engagement.

The dismantling of VOA since March 15, 2025, inflicted deep and unnecessary harm on America’s ability to communicate credibly in an information landscape increasingly shaped by adversarial powers. With Ms. Lake’s departure – and with the courts having already voided nearly all actions she took to dismantle the institution – the path to restoring and rebuilding VOA’s capacity and credibility is now unmistakably open. That restoration requires returning Director Michael Abramowitz and the hundreds of mission-driven journalists placed on administrative leave and reestablishing the statutory protections that insulate VOA’s reporters from political pressure. These steps are essential to reconstituting an institution whose credibility has long rested on its editorial independence and adherence to the highest journalistic standards.

The damage caused by VOA’s silencing was significant. America now must confront it without delay and rebuild the trusted voice that has served its interests and values for generations.

https://t.co/Un1S9gkRRT

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

World Press Freedom Day 2026

This year’s World Press Freedom Day coincides with a troubling global decline in press freedom. Journalists are operating under intensifying pressure, media outlets face growing political and economic coercion, and entire societies are losing access to verified, accountable reporting.

In this climate, the silencing of the Voice of America has created a strategic void. For decades, VOA advanced U.S. interests by modeling independent journalism with accuracy and transparency and served as a reference point for media outlets and journalists working under censorship. VOA demonstrated how a publicly funded broadcaster can operate with editorial independence, robust journalistic standards, and a firewall against political interference.

Restoring VOA is a matter of national interests. Its record strengthened U.S. credibility, blunted hostile narratives through fact-based reporting, and promoted America’s democratic values. Reviving it would restore a capability no other institution can replace: the ability to project credible information, advance foreign policy objectives, and compete effectively in an information landscape increasingly dominated by America’s adversaries.

A great nation that promotes and defends freedom must also preserve the institutions that give it substance. Restoring a viable, editorially independent, and adequately funded VOA is part of that responsibility.

[Kim Andrew Elliott @kaedotcom]

Kim's column for the May 2026 Journal of the North American Shortwave Association (NASWA) contains Kim's testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The testimony explains the role of VOA and argues for maintaining VOA's funding for FY 2027.

https://t.co/W33Ln8Ygv0

[savevoa @savevoanow]

“The North Korean people must have information—must have knowledge,” says retired U.S. Army Col. David Maxwell, Korea expert. He urges restoring and fully resourcing VOA. #SaveVOA
https://t.co/r7C9Ibt8ol

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

RIP Kevin Klose

Deeply saddened by the loss of Kevin Klose. I had the privilege of working closely with him during his last stint as director of RFE/RL (2012–14) while I led VOA’s Eurasia Division – a period when cooperation between our organizations deepened in truly meaningful ways.

I remain especially grateful for his friendship and support during a critical period in 2020, when VOA faced a frontal attack on its editorial independence. Kevin understood the stakes and the imperative of defending VOA’s core principles. His words of encouragement, and his quiet but unwavering solidarity, meant more than I can express. I also cherish the signed copy of his masterpiece Russia and the Russians (1984).

A towering figure in international broadcasting, a great journalist, and a generous, principled friend. He will be sorely missed.

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

Remembering Rep. Eliot L. Engel

Rep. Engel's passing marks the loss of an extraordinary public servant who spent decades championing human rights, democratic values, free flow of information, and the voices of people living under oppression. His support for Albania’s democratic transition and advocacy for Kosova's independence left a profound legacy and set a standard for principled engagement.

I had the privilege of interviewing him many times over the years, and he consistently demonstrated principled judgment, empathy, and moral clarity. He was also a true friend of the Voice of America. At the 70th anniversary of VOA’s Albanian Service in 2013, he described VOA as “our main tool in letting people know what America is all about.” While some questioned VOA’s funding, he responded: “Every dollar that we give to VOA comes back to us with hundreds of millions of dollars. Hundreds of millions of dollars with goodwill for America and dollars of good faith in what America is and what it stands for. And I can think of nothing more important as the work that VOA does.”

Rep. Engel’s warning feels even more urgent today, at a time when VOA, the nation’s most effective instrument of soft power, has dangerously been dismantled.

May he rest in peace.

https://t.co/XKP48MPXei

[Elez Biberaj @EBiberaj]

The most effective and strategic way for the United States to confront the intensifying wave of disinformation, laid bare once again by The New York Times, is to immediately and fully restore Voice of America operations and provide the funding necessary for it to fulfill its mission. The dismantling that began a year ago has severely undermined U.S. national interests, eroded global credibility, and weakened America’s ability to counter malign influences at a time when adversaries are flooding the information space with distortion and falsehoods.

VOA, protected by a Congressionally mandated firewall that guarantees its editorial independence, remains the most powerful antidote to disinformation, delivering fact based news and information in 49 languages to audiences who trust and rely on it. Rebuilding that capacity requires allowing its legitimate director, the seasoned journalist Michael Abramowitz, to return and lead the institution he was appointed to steward; bringing back the journalists and contractors who were removed; and eliminating self imposed restrictions on hiring highly qualified reporters in the very regions where disinformation is most aggressively deployed.

The war in Iran and its global repercussions have clearly demonstrated that restoring VOA is essential to U.S. national interests. Through truthful, credible, fact based reporting that has long defined its work, VOA can effectively engage global audiences, counter disinformation, and uphold the trust and credibility that underpin America’s influence and leadership.

Trump Officials Try to Fight Foreign Disinformation They Once Dismissed https://t.co/8GEeD3AaJe via @NYTimes

[David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik]

NEW: A fresh lawsuit from veteran Voice of America journalists alleges @KariLake put propaganda on the network's broadcasts.

My story for NPR:
https://t.co/pFLl4Uu0oQ