U.S. urges end to nationalist rhetoric

TIRANA, Jan. 29 – U.S. Ambassador to Tirana Alexander Arvizu on Tuesday met with the leadership of the Red-and-Black Alliance Party, urging them to focus on patriotism instead of nationalism. The ambassador said the aim is to stop further nationalistic rhetoric, which is exploited for political purposes.
The party’s leader, Kreshnik Spahiu, and his political grouping started a petition on the 100th anniversary of independence asking for the union of Albania with Kosovo. They have handed it over to the Central Election Commission with a request to hold a referendum.
Despite harsh rhetoric protecting the interests of Albanians in relations with Greece and Serbia, the RBA has made it clear it doesn’t want any conflict with Albania’s strategic international allies — the United States and the European Union.
“Political competition is good; in any democracy you need to have political competition,” said Arvizu. “We also talked about the importance of any responsible political party in Albania and its obligation to continue what is critically important to the United States – and that is to continue to be a force for stability and moderation in the region. I urged Mr. Spahiu in the sense that patriotism is a good thing, but it’s important in your platform and in your agenda to avoid the temptation to slip into nationalist rhetoric, which can counter the stability and the moderation that we talked about.”
Prime Minister Sali Berisha has escalated his own national rhetoric in recent weeks, prompting concern among Albania’s neighbors and allies. Analysts say the rhetoric is tied to the parliamentary elections, which are less than five months away.