An unimpressive visit that underscored nothing

Alfred Kola

TIRANA – They came, were coldly received, talked about nothing and left. This is how the visit of the Italian and Greek chief diplomats, Frattini e Lambrinidis today can be described at best. This was to be expected, since the visit of such light-weight players in international and European scene did not bring anything new for the politically deadlocked Albania and to the solution of the deeply rooted crisis. In a joint press conference the ministers talked about integration and EU Commission’s recommendations but didn't, not even once, mentioned the corruption of government and elections rigging and how these issues should be addressed. It has become a habit of international envoys to attempt to leave the anti-democratic actions of the Albanian government behind and try to bypass the addressing of such issues accordingly by trying the impossible in urging compromise in other, not very fair ways. The ministers called for a compromise and a national pact, but said nothing about how this could be achieved. Their mission was to boost interparty dialog and reconciliation, but they really need to understand that Albania is past pep talks and immediate actions are needed to bring some concrete results. And this can’t be done by overlooking the obvious that the real problem is the government and the prime minister.    

Another reason why this visit was unimpressive and passed without much publicity and attention by the population is that, both countries the ministers represent are themselves going through some tough patches politically and economically, and Greece in particular, is on the verge of a total economic and political collapse. Most believe that Lambrinidis is not the right person to advise us on how to solve our problems, especially when the infamous agreement with the Albanian government on international waters is at play.