Albania is European and cannot be otherwise. The proximity of China at the doors of Europe will be welcomed neither in Brussels nor in Washington.
By Klodjan Tomorri
For those who are not familiar with Chinese Ex-Im Bank, this is the same financial institution that has financed Mugabe and several other Third World dictators. Often this has happened via corruptive agreements that have in turn transformed into mega scandals. This is the Chinese style. For the Party it is not important whom you are doing business with for as long as you are achieving a single goal: spreading the Chinese influence around the world and finding new markets for the exports of Chinese companies. In the last three years, China has become the largest investor in the developing world mainly through its two state run banks: Exim Bank and the Development Bank. With a total of 110 billion dollars it has surpassed even the largest donor of the West and the symbol of its assistance to the developing countries, the World Bank.
The seemingly endless Chinese capitals are financing in the last couple of years giant projects abroad: in infrastructure, energy, transportation, minerals industry, etc. Most of these investments are based in Africa’s resource-rich countries, where the Chinese economic clout has bought also an immense political influence for China. But the economic policy of China is deeply pragmatic and it has been like this since the first days of the People ’s Republic. Much of Chinese financing to Africa has been associated with securing the continent’s natural resources. And after the economic colonization of Africa it looks like the next goal for the communist government in Beijing is the Balkans. The underdeveloped region which separates East from West fulfils all the conditions in order to be a strategic objective: poor economies with potential for investment, profitable business opportunities for Chinese companies and above all the region is the front gate to the European markets. And when interests converge the objective becomes easily attainable. Something that the Summit in Belgrade illustrated very clearly where in the same table on one side there was the unbearable Chinese hunger for markets, and on the other side the available Balkan governments, among which featuring prominently the Albanian one.
The Albanian government boasted from Belgrade that it had reached a significant number of important economic agreements which open up the path to large Chinese investments in Albania. The most important one is the deal with the Exim Bank concerning the financing the Road of Arberi (Tirana-Peshkopia axis) which has been all but abandoned for many eyras due to the lack of funds. According to the official sources this agreement with the Chinese makes it feasible for the project to be completed in a relatively quick time. However this is the only public information that was given. Otherwise the entire agreement is very unclear. Is this going to be a concession or a direct loan to the budget? If it is the first option immediately a set of doubts have to kick in since concessions are usually granted via international tenders and not governmental agreements. If on the other hand this is going to be a debt to the state budget, we still have to learn about the terms and conditions. In any case, whatever the option chosen the road is going to be constructed by Chinese companies since the mission of the Exim Bank is to ultimately procure jobs for Chinese companies and to subsidize their exports.
In contrast to the case of the IMF and the WB, getting funds from China is much easier and with fewer conditions to fulfill. The Party does not impose any structural reforms or painful programs of financial consolidation as prerequisites for the governments that it finances because it seeks other ways to compensate for its trade interests. But in economics there is no free lunch. The experience of other countries has clearly revealed that the projects made possible by Chinese soft loans have been in many cases spectacular failures, often associated with large scale corruption. In Africa, many public works such as roads, schools and hospitals that have been financed by the Beijing government and constructed by Chinese companies have deteriorated and have been destroyed in the course of few years. In addition there seems to be another problem. In economics a usual phrase is that money has neither color nor conscience. And in times of crisis this sounds even more ominous.
For the feeble economies of the Balkans every investment capital from abroad is irresistible. For their generally poor citizens the news with fancy words such as “billion dollars of investment in infrastructure and energy” may become sources of hope and optimism. In this context, for many of these voters the origin of the money might be the most unimportant detail. However the problem with economic agreements is that they are rarely economic. Money buys influence. Above and beyond economic interests what China is seeking in the Balkans is influence, which through this region it can export further beyond westwards. For governments which stand perplexed, and there are several ones in our region, this might be an opportunity to show the teeth to the West. For others however this might turn into a strategic mistake. Whatever the context, the Tirana officials cannot afford any of these. Albania is European and cannot be otherwise. The proximity of China at the doors of Europe will be welcomed neither in Brussels nor in Washington. This might not be important for some of the neighboring countries who despite promising marriage with Europe have no qualms about going to bed with China or Russia when they get a chance. However this does not apply to Albania. For Albania this is a dangerous flirtation.
