TIRANA, Oct. 17 – International representatives have urged Albanian journalists and civil society representatives to do their part in increasing discussion about the country’s traumatic communist past.
The OSCE Presence in Albania, with the support of the German Embassy, organized a seminar with the media on dealing with the country’s communist past, understanding the history and working for reconciliation.
“Compared to other societies having suffered under dictatorship and totalitarianism, Albania appears to remain still at a rather preliminary level of dealing with its past. There has not been any systematic media reporting about the communist past or even much public discussion of it, which leaves the impression to the outside observer that the Albanian society rather has prefered to forget this ‘nightmare of half a century,’ in the words of Amik Kasoruho,” said the head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Florian Raunig, in his remarks at the event. “Among the understandable reasons might be that too horrible might have been this past, too traumatic the experience, and too abrupt the change to the daily struggle of surviving in the newly gained freedom. Too dangerous might also be the risk that the wounds that have not healed, will bleed again once uncovered.”
He added that although it is never easy to talk about a painful past, society needs to hear the stories of survivors and understand the extent of violations under the former regime.
“Opening a dialogue on the past is the only way to ensure Albania’s democratic future. It is both a societal issue, and a deeply personal one, for all Albanians. Both state institutions and citizens need to take an active role in dealing with the past,” Raunig added.
The seminar was part of a project of the OSCE Presence to promote public dialogue about Albania’s communist past, which is funded by the German government. German Ambassador Hellmut Hoffmann also attended the event.
Representatives of the media as well as foreign and local experts discussed among other things how the media can bring up the subject of dealing with the past, what must be taken into account when reporting and how to behave in the case of sensitive information.
Journalists from Germany and the Czech Republic brought their experience in reporting of cases from the communist period, while the spokesman of the German Federal Commission for the Stasi Archives spoke about the German experience in opening the archives.
