By Alba à‡ela
Unlike the previous joint government meetings between Albania and Kosova the latest one did not display any gigantic flag or did not bother with any theatrical stages with scintillating stars and eagles. Maybe that was the reason why the media did not dedicate as much attention to it as before. The event was held in Pristina. Symbolically, just a few days earlier the political parties that make up the local council of Pristina municipality did not reach an agreement of where to place the Embassy of Albania, launching nervous tirades to each other of who was the least patriotic in that case.
There was limited concrete progress to report on this third joint meeting between the two respective executive branches. Alongside a joint consulate in Milano, the Albanian Prime Minister announced an upcoming one in Munich and asked both foreign affairs ministers to propose joint embassies. Despite these small achievements in the foreign policy coordination, progress is missing where it is most sought: in the economic field. Major infrastructural and economic projects or joint ventures are missing. The markets in both countries continue to be dominated by actors whose interests are not in line with the Albania-Kosova axis. The business community of each country is curiously absent from these meetings mirroring its omitted communication in real life. The Chamber of Commerce in Pristina might as well be lauded for its communication with Serbia, however communication with their peers in Tirana is nowhere to be found.
The trade wars continue to be a permanent feature at the borders for food items, cement and other products. The energy interconnection line between the two countries is yet to be completed while no strategic plans exist to assist Kosova to cut its energy dependency to Serbia. It is concerning that initiatives to enhance the connectivity through projects coordinating the role of airports, ports and other transport centers between two countries are stalling. Albanian officials confuse each other and the public with the interchange of Durres and Shengjin ports to be offered as preferential operating venues to Kosovar businesses. When it comes to communication, roaming prices between Albania and Kosova would have one believe that they are located in two different continents rather than side by side.
As some analyst have observed this week it is time to draft a comprehensive analysis listing all the fields where cooperation is stalling alongside the potential to move forward in order to calibrate policy making towards a more successful cooperation.
If the relations between Albania and Kosova are to be capillary, organic, mutually beneficial and jointly progressive the economic, infrastructural and connectivity elements need to be strengthened and development well beyond the status quo. The accomplishments so far are mostly on the soft fields of culture and education and they are to be applauded. However if we don’t move towards more long term strategic ideas of acting together then we will soon need another huge flag in the next joint government meetings to cover the lack of more substantial achievements.
