Talking Albania’s foreign policy
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- There seems to be an approach that relies more on improvisation, ad hoc solutions and lots of propaganda while there is much less clarity, fewer priorities, and most importantly, no real hierarchy of these priorities. That is why I argue that Albania’s foreign policy finds itself in a transitory phase.
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Turkish Weekly conducted an in-depth interview with Albert Rakipi, Executive Director at the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS), on Albania’s current position in the Balkans.
What are Albania’s foreign policy priorities at the regional and international levels, and how do you evaluate Albania’s current EU integration process?
Albania’s foreign policy is in a transition phase. After the fall of communism, Albania’s process of transformation relied heavily on its foreign policy. The country employed a strategic vision in order to extract it from its extreme isolation and to assist in the rebuilding of the state and economy. Adopting an unwavering commitment to western orientation, Albania succeeded to become a NATO member and to take important steps forward in the process of European integration. These are important and major achievements. Currently, however, there seems to be a lack of new ideas. There seems to be an approach that relies more on improvisation, ad hoc solutions and lots of propaganda while there is much less clarity, fewer priorities, and most importantly, no real hierarchy of these priorities. That is why I argue that Albania’s foreign policy finds itself in a transitory phase. At the regional level, the new administration declared that its priority was zero problems with neighbors. This was a simple borrowing from the thesis of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. It was out of place in Albania.
At the international level there seems to be a real lack of realism and modesty. From time to time, Albania, a microstate, tries to act like a giant player in foreign affairs. Maybe this is a result of the country’s communist legacy and its tradition of asymmetric relations (primarily with major superpowers), during which time it behaved as though it was the center of the world. Now we have a dozen states, including some major superpowers, which Albania claims to have as its strategic partners.
European integration is essential for the democratic future of our country. The process of EU integration has been the driving force behind the rebuilding of the state and the modernization of the society. The fact that for the moment we are not reaching major milestones in this process does not mean that substantial progress is not being made in the rebuilding and functioning of the state, the economy and the democracy of the country. It is not the accession of Albania that transforms Albania. The opposite of this is true. The progress in state functionality, economy and democracy is what makes Albania approach the EU. European integration is not an issue of foreign policy.
Hashim Thaci was elected President of the Republic of Kosovo as political crisis deepened in the country. How do you evaluate the current circumstances in Kosovo?
Hashim Thaci is a dominant political figure in Kosovo. He is extremely popular and was elected with a large majority if not the largest majority of any elected official in the country. Just as is the case with any politician elsewhere in the world, a large part of society does not support him, or even shuns him. This is very normal for a political party leader and even for a prime minister. However, it is expected that a Head of State, a President, will be a personality that ensures unity. And therein I believe lies the biggest challenge of Thaci as a President. His transformation from a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), with all its different shades and interpretations, to a moderate politician who has invested so much in the state-building process in Kosovo as well as in the process of pursuing recognition of Kosovo in the international arena is truly impressive.
Being elected in the midst of severe and deep political conflict between the majority and the opposition, the new head of state in Kosovo faces first and foremost the issue of trying to find a way to dissipate pressing political crises.
However, doing such would be just the first step. The real challenge for Mr. Thaci will be to function as a president for all citizens and to depart from the unfortunate political model of our eternal strongmen leaders who neither share nor give up power.
Kosovo, just like many other countries in the Balkans, is a weak state. Unfortunately it sometimes even demonstrates the symptoms of a failed state. Disagreements and deep divisions are eating away at the political stability and the potential that the country needs to develop. The parallel institutions which Serbia does not seem to be ready to give up have exerted a significant toll on the process of state building and state functionality in Kosovo. However, to focus solely on this dynamic would be to simply point fingers and identify “the enemy” as the one to blame.
The essential problem today is that political parties, while agreeing to build a democratic regime, fail to play by the rules of the democratic game. State building is not easy in a country where the state tradition is lacking and the democratic and liberal experience is limited to sporadic spurts.
There is an ongoing political crisis in Macedonia, where we see increasing ethnic tension between the government and ethnic Albanians. How do you evaluate the current circumstances in Macedonia?
Macedonia is unfortunately the victim of the tyranny of status quo. For more than a decade now the country is in a limbo in regards to its EU integration, and many regressive steps and processes have happened as a result of the lack of change.
The political system in Macedonia is becoming more and more autocratic and illiberal and there is also a concerning recurrence of populist rhetoric and policy. The fact that Macedonia has a brittle interethnic equilibrium makes the reality there even more concerning. All the risk factors in Macedonia are serious threats to the security and stability of the Balkans.
When it comes to solutions to political crisis, unfortunately in this region, there is a culture of dependency on the international community, on the foreigners. Such sometimes reaches absurd levels from which conspiracy theories are even formed. There is a need for local ownership of the situation, the responsibilities and the solution.
How do you perceive Albania’s relations with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia, and what is Albania’s role when it comes to Albanians in the Balkans?
The independence of Kosovo and the eventual change of the political map in the Balkans generated a completely new reality. As a result, the relations between Albanians are first and foremost interstate ones. Many thought that after Kosovo attained independence, relations between Albania and Kosovo would rapidly develop and yield many benefits, however, we see today that that has not been the case. Although there are no problems between the two states, these two societies have been not only separated but strongly isolated from one another for a long time, hence they are now quite different. From time to time cross-border trade wars start over food products such as potatoes, milk and meat… and even other items.
There is plenty of faà§ade work being done in the relations between Albania and Kosovo, especially on the side of the former: joint cabinet meetings, the hoisting of large and numerous flags, the imposition large symbolic eagles that dominate the dà©cor and propaganda drums. In the meantime the two governments have actually failed to build up the necessary mechanisms and instruments that could strengthen and expand their economic relations and trade.
It is a well-known fact that the trade volume between Kosovo and other former Yugoslav republics, including first and foremost Serbia, is much larger than that with Albania. In the economic field the thesis of Tim Judah of the Economist that there is a restoration of the Yugosphere seems to be accurate.
Although not everyone agrees on that, it is quite clear that building a market on an ethno basis is not possible if the market and the economy in Albania do not function well. There is at least one political party in Kosovo, a party inside the Parliament, which actively supports the creation a common state with Albania. However, “Greater Albania” should actually be conceived of as greater economic Albania, just as Behgjet Pacolli argues. Kosovo and Albania are weak and dysfunctional states not because they have been or still are separate. In the same vein, they will not start being functional just because they are joined together. And it should be noted that this is not only about economics.
There is also less cultural communication and interaction between the societies in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia, even now that they are open and free countries. I am aware that that sounds like a paradox.
On the question of whether there is a role for Albania to play with regard to the Albanians all over the Balkans, I believe that Albania has played a constructive role in Albanian issues in the region. It has done so by supporting wholeheartedly the policies of the west. That, I believe, is the most important context in which to analyze the role of Albania. However, from another point of view, Albanians around Albania have seen Albania as their mother country. Nonetheless, Albania’s role in this regard has gradually diminished for three reasons: 1) the growth and partial maturing of political elites in Kosovo; 2) these elites’ gradual pushback towards any kind of paternilizing move from Tirana; and last but not least 3) the eventual and recurring crises that have affected Albania, bringing it sometimes to the brink of a failed state. The latter has particularly eroded the legitimacy and reputation of Albania while also limiting its real opportunities to play a leadership role and serve as a model for Albanians in the region.
Albanians constitute the largest Muslim population in the Western Balkans and they have suffered significantly from Islamist radicalism and ISIS recruitment. Could you please share your opinion on religious radicalism in the Balkans, particularly as it relates to Albanian Muslims and foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria?
Islamic radicalism and the issue of foreign fighters are phenomena present at the global scale which have also manifested themselves in the Balkans. At least 100 Albanian citizens have been recruited and have joined ISIS’s army. From Kosovo and Macedonia there are much more, likely double that figure. Last year, state agencies reported that no one from Albania travelled to Syria. This issue is very serious and unacceptable for Albania. Albanian societies in Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo differ from one another when it comes to their approach to religion. In the entire modern history of Albania there is no instance of mobilization on a religious basis. Religion in Albania has never played the role of an organizing ideology for society, and this rings even truer when it comes to the organization of the state. However, despite our existing religious harmony, the risk is real: in the past Muslims didn’t even pray publicly in Raqqa and now it has become the capital of the Islamic State.
The Albanian societies in Kosovo and Macedonia show themselves to be more religious and the influence of radical Islamic groups is more pronounced there. The number of foreign fighters from these areas is also therefore larger. Without a doubt, Islamic radicalization can become a threat to national security; in the case of Albania it would endanger the religious coexistence in the country which would be fatal. Generally states in the Balkans are weak and their capacities to secure even basic public goods for their citizens are very limited. This situation has eroded the public trust in institutions and the legitimacy of political regimes throughout the entire region. This situation creates the spaces needed for the influence of radical and extremist groups to step in. These groups promise citizens not only public goods but also a state, a flag and a future.
By Hamdi Fırat Bà¼yà¼k
*Albert Rakipi is the Executive Director at the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS). Mr. Rakipi holds a PhD in International Relations from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Before assuming his position at AIIS, he previously served as a career diplomat and then as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania.
**The interviewer thanks Mrs. Alba à‡ela for her strong support in conducting this interview.
***This Interview was first published in the May issue of Analist in Turkish
Published by Turkishweekly.net under the original title: Albania and Albanians in the Balkans: Great expectations and disappointments
