In the luxurious and quiet city of Lugano in Switzerland, the waters have been disturbed by the presence of the former Albanian minister on the run from justice who is sheltering there, Arben Ahmetaj.
Ahmetaj's presence in Lugano has stirred the local politics of the Italian-speaking city, as the Municipality has been forced to clarify whether it knows that Ahmetaj is staying in a luxury villa that is owned by the city.
There are three local councilors, Raoul Ghisletta, Edoardo Cappelletti and Mattea David, who requested an interpellation session in February, then postponed to March, changing the objective from interpellation to investigation, to clarify whether the Municipality is aware that in the villa on "Via S. Franscini" street, Arben Ahmetaj regularly lives with his wife.
The heads of the Real Estate and Security departments have been asked to get the answer to these questions while they have been informed that it is true that the building is owned by the Municipality, but Ahmetaj's name does not appear.

This is because the apartment is in the name of his partner Erjola Hoxha, who signed the contract. However, Arben Ahmetaj, like all other citizens, must be registered as the law provides, but he has not yet done so.
According to newspapers in Ticino, there are also suspicions about a bank transfer to the Credit Suisse branch in Lugano in the amount of 1.8 million euros made by one of Ahmetaj's partners, for which SPAK has requested information from the local authorities.
"At this point, it remains to be understood what Switzerland will do, taking into account the fact that the Swiss authorities consider Albania a safe country. Getting asylum for Arben Ahmetaj will not be a "walk in the park", even if compared to those who live in special centers his situation is much more comfortable.
But that doesn't mean it will last. Officially, Tirana has not requested extradition, as until recently the residence of the fugitive politician was not known. Now that his presence in Lugano has been confirmed, it is not excluded that soon someone will knock on the door of Via Franscini", it is said, among other things, in reports with the local media.