Eric Adams has been granted Albanian citizenship. The decision was formalised by a presidential decree and published in Albania’s official journal.
How the citizenship was granted
Albania’s president, Bajram Begaj, signed a decree that granted citizenship to Eric Leroy Adams, according to an English translation of the entry published in the country’s official government journal. The Albania Daily News first reported the move and a spokesperson for Adams then confirmed the development to the news media.
The journal entry reads: "I decree granting citizenship … upon … Eric Leroy Adams," and states the decree enters into force immediately. Records show the decision was published in the official gazette, providing the formal legal notice for the change of status.
Adams, who served as mayor of New York City from the start of 2022 until the end of 2025, travelled to Albania for a four-day visit in October during the closing weeks of his term. During that trip he and Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, discussed closer cooperation on tourism and technology, according to reporting of their meetings.
Adams also publicly praised Tirana while he was there and suggested he would advocate for a direct flight between New York and Albania — a proposal he raised with local officials and later reiterated to US press.
The American political backdrop
Adams left office at the end of 2025 after one term as mayor. He had stepped back from seeking the Democratic nomination while campaigning for re-election amid a federal corruption case that was later dismissed after an intervention by the administration of US president Donald Trump, according to reporting.
He tried running as an independent for a short time but dropped out; he then endorsed Andrew Cuomo. He endorsed former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and publicly criticised the progressive Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani, during the contest.
At a campaign event where he backed Mr Cuomo, Adams said: "I don’t know what's wrong with people," and cited recent terrorism incidents in Europe and Africa as he argued against Mamdani’s candidacy. Mamdani defeated Cuomo decisively in November and succeeded Adams as New York City’s first Muslim mayor.
In March, the new mayor’s administration moved to end legal representation of Adams in a civil lawsuit that alleges he sexually assaulted a woman more than three decades ago. The plaintiff named in the suit has identified herself as Lorna Beach-Mathura. Adams has denied the allegation.
What the move reflects — and what remains unclear
First came a high-profile visit and public talks about tourism and technology; now there's a presidential decree granting citizenship, all documented in reporting and the official gazette. Adams and Edi Rama were visibly aligned on expanded contacts between New York and Albania during the October trip, and the decree provides a formal connection that follows those talks.
The reporting focuses on gestures of goodwill and concrete goals — boosting tourism, exploring tech partnerships and even proposing direct flights between New York and Tirana. Those were themes Adams raised publicly while in Albania and that he reiterated after returning to the United States.
The available documentation doesn't explain why the Albanian authorities took the step now, beyond the decree itself, nor does it discuss any change to Adams’s US citizenship. No official comment about changes to his passport status or about dual citizenship arrangements was published alongside the decree in the government journal.
I found no reporting in the supplied sources that links the British government or UK companies to the citizenship decision; coverage instead centers on US–Albania contacts. The coverage focuses on the bilateral aspects between Adams and Albanian officials, and on the domestic political context in New York.
Diplomatic and practical questions
Granting citizenship to a former mayor of a major global city naturally raises questions about his ties to a much smaller European state; reporters note officials haven't explained the rationale publicly. Albania’s move formalises a link that began publicly as a short diplomatic and promotional visit — and then deepened into a legal status change.
What the reporting shows is Adams seeking to cement ties that he and Mr Rama cast as mutually beneficial: boosting tourism to Albania, encouraging technological collaboration, and making travel between the two countries easier. Adams spoke warmly of Tirana on the trip, saying the city was "moving in the right direction," and he made a point of proposing direct air service as a way to link communities and commerce.
The records show no follow-up steps — there are no public airline deals, investment commitments or memoranda of understanding tied to the decree. There's no publicised timetable for any of the projects Adams discussed during his visit.
How commentators and officials have reacted
Public reaction has been mixed in the reporting. Supporters of deeper US-Albania ties see potential for niche tourism and technology exchanges. Critics note that a former US mayor obtaining overseas citizenship can prompt questions about motive and timing, given Adams’s recent political and legal troubles in New York.
In New York, Adams’s departure from the mayoralty and the subsequent election of Zohran Mamdani — who became the city’s first Muslim mayor — were major political moments covered alongside the Albanian story. The change of administration also produced concrete legal moves: Mr Mamdani’s team asked to stop representing Adams in the civil litigation his office had initially handled when he was still mayor.
What this does and doesn’t mean for the wider world
For Albania, the move can be read as a small diplomatic gain: it associates the country with a figure who has substantial name recognition in the United States. For Adams, the new citizenship creates a formal tie that complements the public praise and promises he offered while in Tirana.
That said, the published decree and the confirmation from Adams’s spokesperson do not, on their own, signal immediate policy shifts between governments or big economic deals. The record is a legal act — a formal granting of citizenship — rather than a detailed plan for trade, investment or transport links.
Adams’s public profile and political history in New York remain central to how the decision is being interpreted. His campaign moves in 2025, the dismissal of a federal case after the Trump administration’s intervention and the sexual-assault civil suit that he contests have all formed the backdrop to the story of his Albanian citizenship.
Next steps and lingering questions
Several practical questions are yet to be answered in public records: whether Adams will apply for an Albanian passport, how the Albanian government expects to follow up on the proposals mentioned during his visit, and whether any commercial or governmental agreements will be published.
There is also the matter of how the development will be perceived in the United States. Adams remains a polarising figure in his hometown; his new citizenship adds another chapter to a high-profile post-mayoral period that has included legal fights and a failed re-election bid.
For now, the formal act is contained in a short governmental notice — a presidential decree printed in Albania’s official journal — and in a confirmation from Adams’s spokesperson to the press. Further documentation would be required to turn the goodwill and headlines of October into concrete programmes or routes.
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The official journal quoted President Bajram Begaj as saying: "I decree granting citizenship … upon … Eric Leroy Adams."
This article was created with AI assistance.
