The Albanian Institute for International Studies and its partners organized the international conference “Twenty Years After: Rethinking Democracy and State in Albania” where you were one of the keynote speakers. What is your opinion of the conference and the topics covered in it?
I think the conference was a great success, due in large part to the fine conceptual and organizational work of Albert Rakipi and Remzi Lani and their staffs. The other major sponsors, including the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Balkan Trust for Democracy, should also be mentioned. I would personally like to acknowledge the U.S. Speaker Program of the U.S. Department of State, which made my participation possible. The participants, I think, provided a careful and fair analysis of the achievements that can be celebrated and the major challenges, which still need urgent attention. And there was enough media coverage to attract the attention of Albania’s political class. So, I would think that the discussions at the conference were made widely available and hopefully will have a positive impact.
How would you assess these two decades of Albania’s transformation? How has Albania changed in these 20 years?
Albania has of course changed profoundly in the past twenty years. I still remember my first visit to Albania in 1989 when I had the impression that I had stepped back in time some 50 years or more. Tirana seemed like a ghost town with few people and almost no vehicles in the streets. People were very reluctant to talk. Now we see a vibrant modern capital akin to other Balkan capitals. I do miss the many beautiful villas which have been torn down, but I suppose that something is always lost when something is gained. More significantly, the lives of Albania’s people have also changed. The fear and monotony on the Hoxha’s years have been replaced with considerable social, economic, and political freedom which would have been considered impossible 20 years ago. Poverty and unemployment remain major challenges but one is particularly struck by the mobility which many Albanians today enjoy. I am also impressed with the growth of an active civil society and increasing awareness of such issues as women’s rights and environmental issues. As my colleague Miranda Vickers pointed out in her presentation at the conference, there is a great need to rapidly increase awareness of the latter before Albania’s many ancient treasures and future tourist potential are destroyed by careless developers looking to make a quick profit.
What is your opinion of Albania’s current situation of democracy?
I think that Albania’s democracy is still a work in progress and needs urgent attention. Traditional democracy requires an informed electorate – which means that more attention to press freedom is essential. Violence against members of the press and self-censorship because of official threats and pressure should to be eliminated. Democracy requires an independent judiciary – which means that Albania’s politicized, pressured courts need significant reform. The rule of law in Albania has yet to be fully established. Democracy requires that political parties offer clear choices to the electorate – which is something that has yet to happen in Albania. Democracy requires free and fair elections recognized by all of the major participants – something that clearly has not yet happened in Albania. This last point is of course a particular problem in 2010. The dispute concerning the elections of 2009 must be resolved for Albania to move forward. I believe that compromise is necessary and that the government, which bares the greatest responsibility for the welfare of the people and the state because it holds the power, needs to come more than half-way to meet the concerns of the Socialists. I believe that transparency is necessary and as a result, some way to open the boxes should to be found. This is what would happen in a fully functioning democracy. I understand and appreciate the point concerning the court’s decision but frankly, I think the argument would be stronger if the political elite respected the independence of the judiciary not only when it suits their purposes. This has gone on long enough. Albania is suffering because of this impasse – as make clear by the latest European Commission report. The people’s business is being ignored.
Can we say for sure that the Albanian transition, meaning the replacement of the totalitarian state regime with a democratic state and the transformation of a centralized economy to a market economy, has already ended?
I have always been a bit uncomfortable with the notion of “transition.” In a way, the term implies that there is some democratic “promised land” that those who strive may eventually reach. Democracy is very much a living organism, which changes constantly. We in the U.S. who have had nearly 250 years experience with the concept are still making changes to our version of democracy. Having said that, I do think there are certain common denominators that all forms of democracy should enjoy – and here Albania still has a way to go. I think the glass is half full and there is no threat of turning back, but much more work needs to be done, particularly in terms of the rule of law, the nature of political parties, and elections.
Can you draw a balance sheet of Albania’s main achievements and failures in these past 20 years?
I think there is much to celebrate. As I suggested at the conference, I believe that the greatest achievements can be found in the realm of foreign policy. Albania has become a solid and reliable partner for the West and the United States. It has made many important contributions to Balkan stability and it maintains a healthy relationship with all of it neighbors. NATO and the United States have very much appreciated Albania’s willingness to cooperate with regard to Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay returnees and the so-called article 98. Albania has of course benefited from its success with NATO membership and the soon to be instituted visa liberalization. These are great achievements both practically and psychologically. I suppose there is a bit of irony in the fact that these achievements all make it easier for Albanians to leave their country. Perhaps an even greater achievement will be to initiate a successful program, which will make it easier for people who have left to return, find gainful employment and help with the construction of the new Albania. But still, these are important achievements for which the government should be congratulated. There are other achievements as well, in terms of the economy and social change. The remaining challenges include the rule of law and various aspects of politics. Deficiencies in the latter have resulted in unsynchronized development which creates social strains, fatigue with the very idea of democracy and continued out migration. This is something that should be reversed.
Why is it necessary to confront the past, a process that is not yet taken seriously in Albania?
As a historian, it is of course not difficult to convince me that an objective full understanding of the past is critical for a full understanding of the present. This is true in Albania as it is elsewhere. One quick example would be the nature of Albania’s political parties. I see here some unfortunate vestiges of the Hoxhaist past. The leadership remains authoritarian and intolerant, which makes needed compromise difficult if not impossible. The parties are regional and lack financial transparency. There is still little in the way of major policy differences – they function more as interest groups than political parties in the Western sense. Party interaction is really akin to low-level war, punctuated by hate speech and occasional violence. There is no concept yet of the notion of a loyal opposition were the parties pull together after an election and work of the best interests of the people and the country. The Hoxhaist Party of Labor was endowed with many of these same attributes. Confronting the past clearly helps us to understand the present. Only by doing so can the demons of the past be exorcized. But I am very optimistic here as well. Albania is producing a generation of fine young historians who will help in this process. I believe Albania has a very bright future in every respect.
Bernd J. Fischer received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1982. His is a professor in the History Department at Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne. He is a specialist in Albanian history and since 2005. He is also associate professor of Albanian Institute for International Studies. He is the author of Albania at War, and Balkan Strongmen: Dictators and Authoritarian rulers of Southeast Europe.
