Andi Balla
Introduction
Albania sees European integration as its top national priority. As a re-sult, it views regional cooperation through the lenses of European inte-gration, and it sees other countries of the Western Balkans as compan-ions and partners in a joint journey toward membership in the European Union. In addition, as the only country in the Western Balkans that was not part of the former Yugoslavia, Albania views regional reconciliation through the prism of ethnic Albanians in the former Yugoslavia – chiefly through Kosovo – but also though the rights of ethnic Albanians in Ma-cedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro.
At this time, Albania’s EU progress is being shaped by internal devel-opments in the country, such as political competition related to the June 23, 2013 general parliamentary elections1 as well as a growing sense of unease with the economic effects of the European crisis, chiefly in Greece and Italy, are having in Albania.
The political climate for 2013 has seen its ups and downs, but it has been shaped primarily by the need to hold general parliamentary elections that meet the best international standards, a key requirement not only for furthering Albania’s EU bid, but also to end a prolonged transition to a well-established democracy. These elections are key to Albania’s pro-gress toward the European Union, as the country has made little propro-gress since it officially applied for membership in 2009, primarily because of a
1 This paper was written roughly one month ahead of the parliamentary elections, so it discusses the situation ahead of the elections without information on the results and the quality of the process itself.
lack of political consensus among the key actors in government and op-position.
As Albania goes to the polls in June, the economic climate in the country is top of mind. The economy and jobs are the issues that Albanians overwhelmingly want the next government to address, leaving far behind as insignificant issues relating to nationalist rhetoric, which saw an in-crease during the celebrations of Albania’s 100 years of independence in late 2012 and the establishment of the country’s first modern nationalist party ahead of the 2013 parliamentary elections. Such increase was only temporary, however, and it did little to steer Albania away from its tradi-tional constructive approach to regional issues.
Rhetoric aside, Albania continues constructive regional approach On 28 November 2012, Albania marked 100 years since the declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire. The centenary celebrations marked a rise in national pride and were celebrated across Albania as well as by ethnic Albanians in the region and in the diaspora. However, in addition to congratulatory messages, there was also some concern in the region in regional, EU and U.S. circles due to rhetoric perceived as nationalistic among political actors in general and elected leaders in par-ticular. There were fears that Albania would shift its policies toward a more aggressive nationalist stands, however, in the long run, those fears proved unfounded.
During the celebrations, the then Prime Minister Sali Berisha made re-marks that angered the neighbors – referring to “Albanian lands” in Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and southern Serbia. Greek and Macedonian top officials canceled visits to Tirana as a result, saying such comments do not help friendly ties in the region. Berisha’s spokes-woman later explained he was speaking in a historical context and the prime minister and other Albanian leaders, including President Bujar
Nishani have reiterated Albania’s official policy of “uniting all Albani-ans inside the EU” not through border changes.2
One of the reasons the prime minister turned to nationalist rhetoric was largely for electoral purposes ahead of the parliamentary elections, after seeing a threat in the polls of the Red and Black Alliance (RBA), a new party set up as a classic protest movement with nationalist overtones to take votes from Berisha’s Democratic Party and other established par-ties. As Albert Rakipi of the Albanian Institute for International Studies points out in a recent newspaper interview,
“This increase in nationalist rhetoric should be seen in the context of the next parliamentary elections. For 20 years, the Democratic Party and Berisha himself have claimed a monopoly on the national cause. With the emergence of Red and Black Alliance, that perceived monopoly and the votes that come with it are no longer safe.”3
The alliance is a radical, centrist group of mostly young people who have not been involved in politics in the past and see nationalism as a means to show their anger at the political establishment. While it cam-paigns on a series of social issues, nationalism is at the alliance’s core, and it has sought to hold a referendum for joining Albania and Kosovo and offer citizenship of the Republic of Albania to any ethnic Albanian anywhere in the world who wants it – a move chiefly aimed to benefit ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who cannot travel to much of the European Union visa-free as can the rest of the region. Berisha made a similar pro-posal on the passport offer, leading some analysts to point out he was using the alliance’s ideas to get more votes.4 However, months after the prime minister made the remarks, it became clear there would be no of-ficial action on the matter, as it would hurt Albania’s own commitments to the EU.
2 Koha Ditore quoting President Nishani's interview in a Kosovo radio station http://www.kohaditore.com/index.php/repository/docs/10FARUK.pdf?page=1,14, 126467.
3 “Newly nationalist prime minister stirs worry” Tirana Times, Dec. 6, 2012.
4 “Albanian Passport Offer Makes Waves in Balkans” Balkan Insight, Dec. 10, 2012 http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albanian-citizenships-stirs-regional-interest.
It also appears that just one month ahead of the general elections, the RBA has lost much of its steam as there has been a departure of core leaders after coalition negotiations with the opposition Socialist Party failed.5 Though the Socialist and the RBA have incompatible political aims, the Socialists say they were hoping to create the largest opposition front possible. Regardless of the outcome of the elections, the RBA was a new element is Albanian politics, and it made a mark by forcing some debate on what Albanians refer to as the “national issue.”
European and American officials have urged all Albanian political actors to shelve the nationalist talk in favour of the type of patriotism that aims to improve quality of life and development, pointing out that nationalism is inherently contrary to the EU project.6 In fact, Albania’s official poli-cies never changed during the period in questions, and as the approach of the general elections, it appears the nationalist rhetoric has dimin-ished, and Albania has in spirit, as well as on paper, returned to its pre-vious position of a constructive role in the region, seeing the Albanian national issues in line with EU priorities. However, depending on the election results, the RBA and other parties such as those representing the Cham community,7 will continue to create headlines on issues that might cause concern among Albania’s neighbours.
As it pertains to the specific issues of regional reconciliation discussed in this workshop, in light of recent verdicts the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Albania is a special case, because as the only country it is the region not to have been part of Yugoslavia.8 As
5 Several privately-funded polls have shown the Red and Black Alliance might not get any seats in the Albanian parliament, however pre-elections survey polls in Albania have often been proven to be unreliable.
6 “Germany, U.S. tell Albania to shelve nationalist talk”, Tirana Times, Feb. 22, 2013 http://tiranatimes.com/news.php?id=14822&cat=1.
7 Chams are ethnic Albanians expelled from Greece after the end of the Second World War. Their party had two members in the 2009-2013 parliament and pushed for a resolution seeking property rights for the Cham Albanians who were forced to leave their lands and homes in northern Greece, accused of cooperation with Fascist forces during the war.
8 A largely ethnically homogeneous country, where four religious communities have lived in harmony for centuries, Albania was not itself affected by the sort of