Berisha snubs” the internationals”. Yet the latter target the opposition again.
The much-trumpeted and widely heralded EU plan to solve the political crisis in Albania by holding local elections on May 8 was the biggest flop in a series of failures by the “internationals” to break the two-year-long complete deadlock in the country. To the appeals of EU and US officials for a fair process, Berisha responded with a blunt move in total defiance of the entire international community’s recommendations and by violating every law and standard live on TV, with the help of the Central Board of Elections, made his puppet candidate mayor of the capital city. What happened in the wake of the most spectacular electoral farce in the history of post-communist era was the intolerable wimpy reaction by the EU and USA. When everybody expected a firm denouncement of the irregularities of the electoral process followed by severe penalties for the Albanian prime minister, the international community dodged its responsibility and returned to the tedious public appeals for compromise and dialog, mostly addressed to the opposition. So far such a thing was unheard of and, frankly speaking, EU never ceases to surprise us. The position of the EU and USA with regard to the open manipulation of popular votes in Tirana is revealing disturbing truths about how the internationals view Albania and its future. While lashing Lukashenko in Belarus for authoritarian actions and elections frauds to stay in power, the international community handles Berisha with kid gloves and openly blames and attacks the oppositions.
The political assassinations, election frauds, the shooting of protesters and a lot of other dictatorial actions by the prime minister seem not to bother the big shots on both sides of the Atlantic, whose mission to destroy the opposition and prolong Berisha’s ruling is becoming crystal-clear. Albania is the only country in the world where the opposition is blamed for a bad economic, judicial and political situation and the government that runs the country, makes decisions and pursues policies is off the hook. This attitude is going too far and is frustrating people on large scale, who feel very offended, for they understand that EU and USA are just screwing them up. The statement of the EU top officials following the elections and the fashion-like parades of the ambassadors in Tirana, show nothing more than an undisputable fact that EU is acting like an NGO rather than the institution it claims to be.
The attitudes of the western governments towards the crisis in the last two years raise the fundamental question whether they want a democratic and economically developed Albania. The answer to this question is No. There are a number of reasons why a prosperous Albania is undesired in political circles in Europe and the United States whose analysis is beyond the scope of this article, but we have the right to ask another question: They might not want a European Albania but we do. So who calls the shots? By all means we do, the country is ours and it’s our future on the line. If we don’t fight today our children may not have a country or a future at all tomorrow. It’s time to tell the guys of international community that Enough Is Enough; that they have to take the situation in Albania very seriously and call a spade a spade like the Danish ambassador in Tirana rightfully appealed them to do. They have to acknowledge the fact that Berisha will never leave democratically and will never hold free and fair elections that would enable the peaceful transfer of power. His political history of the last twenty years has proved this assumption squarely. Thus, the confrontation is inevitable and can only be prevented if Berisha is forced out of power by a massive international pressure. The current approach toward the crisis and the open attacks against the opposition is not the right way to settle the disputes and hostilities. On contrary, it is a surefire way to push the country to a bloody civil war that will incinerate the Balkan and the entire Europe, triggered my another crucial factor: the extreme poverty of the population in contrast to the lavishness of the political circle close to the prime minister. I understand that this scenario is scary, but unfortunately it’s hardly possible to prove it wrong.
The real misfortune is that Albanians will pay with their blood for the whims of some politicians from former communist countries that have very little experience in democracy and rumors floating around of them having ties and interest with businesses operating in the country. The fact that EU official team that handle the case of Albania is predominately composed of eastern Europeans with Slavic origins, who play by outdated descent-based relations, is another fact that proves why Albanian is intentionally kept behind other countries in their integration process. The prime minister’s full cooperation against country’s national interest grants him protection internationally and a free hand domestically to crush everyone and everything that stands in the way of his insatiable greed to bring the entire Albania under his ownership.
All these being said, there is little hope for help from the international community. The question is what Albanians will do to build a country for their children and a future for them in it. This is up to them! But one thing must never be forgotten: that freedom is never given, it is won! And to win the freedom and prosperity that we aspire, let’s start by not listening to the ‘internationals” any longer. Let’s ignore them as they have done with us for so many years.
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It's time Albanians start
It's time Albanians start thinking seriously about the involvement of the foreigners in their aspirations to build a bright future in their own homeland.
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