Editorial: The key messages out of the donors’ conference for Albania and the region

Tirana Times
By Tirana Times February 24, 2020 12:13

Editorial: The key messages out of the donors’ conference for Albania and the region

TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL

This week started with an important international donors’ conference in Brussels to assist Albania’s efforts of reconstruction after the destructive earthquake of November 26 which claimed more than 50 lives and wrecked thousands of homes and businesses. The host of this conference was the European Commission and attendees numbered more than 30 international institutions in addition to member states and other countries.

In the end a combined sum of 1.15 billion euro was communicated as being available for Albania in the form of grants, favorable loans, assistance programs and the already spent emergency support. This conference was important not only for the sum it collected and even less for the euphoria that the top brass of the political class displayed afterwards. It had some key messages that are useful to put in simple words for the importance they carry for Albanian ordinary citizens.

First and foremost this was a display of genuine solidarity and empathy with Albania’s suffering. It puts to rest the concoctions of dangerous myths that “Europe does not love Albania” or that it “discriminates towards Albania compared to others in the region”. The substantial sum that France put forward has already been interpreted as an attempt of repairs after the veto towards negotiations however France does not need to make any repairs for exercising its right to vote in the Council of the European Union. 

That said the sum is indeed to be seen realistically as a combination of not just humanitarian grants (free money) but also loans that will need to be repaid (if the legal debt ceiling allows them in the first place) and assistance programs (projects, technical expertise) that need to be administered.

Second, this is an amount of funds that has the potential to assist not only in a fast way the accommodation of families in new homes, the reconstruction of schools another necessary damaged facilities. Beyond this, the availability of low cost or even free capital can prompt up the much needed economic growth of Albania through powering construction, infrastructure, healthcare, services and other sectors. Therefore the state needs to carefully examine all the possibilities and constraints it has to use these funds including legal debt ceilings that would limit the loans option, the capacity of its own public administration to absorb and use the funds tied to projects as well as the readiness of audit mechanisms to keep track of them.

The importance of transparency and efficiency becomes crucial not only to show respect for the efforts that other made to help us but to use this assistance to the maximum benefit of those who most need it.

In this context the assistance granted by the United States deserves a quick mentioning too: not only the US shows its commitment to institutional capacity building by making part of the funds available for the Transparency Academy (to keep track of all the expenditure) but also its focus on providing for the repairing of damages done to cultural heritage is quite unique.

Finally it is worth stating that the conference was embedded in a new climate in the headquarters of the Union, where the Western Balkans have returned into focus and right after the new enlargement methodology has been published. This was another signal that the European perspective for the region, with its concrete transformation power, is still in place. This is a positive message in itself and one that is important to transmit to the audiences in the region. The EU is still here and can still make a difference.

Tirana Times
By Tirana Times February 24, 2020 12:13