As General Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Ambassador Walter Fust has visited the country four times, noticing each one of them the changes that have accompanied Albania’s progress. To him now Tirana looks very colorful, the airport is a pleasant modern surprise along with the shorter and easier road to reach it. Rahel Boesch, Deputy Country Director for the Swiss Cooperation Office in Albania, explains that Mr. Fust is now in Tirana because of the bi-annual regional seminar that gathers all Ambassadors and Country Directors of the Swiss Cooperation Offices in the Balkans and Central Asia. He is glad to reserve some time in his busy agenda to talk to Tirana Times about fighting prejudice, European integration, and a special beauty contest in Kosovo.
SDC work philosophy
The first contact with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) website leaves the browser bewildered by the diverse range of activities. Hence, asked about what makes the essence of SDC, Mr. Fust mentions the five core areas that make up the fabric of the agency: humanitarian relief; development cooperation with the South (with 17 priority countries); multilateral cooperation and financial aid in cooperation with important global institutions such as the WB and the UN; support for countries in transition (where Albania is part of the priority list of 11 countries) and finally implementing Swiss contributions for European integration.
The SDC is Switzerland’s international cooperation agency within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). In operating with other federal offices concerned, SDC is responsible for the overall coordination of development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe.
Albanian partnerships: assistance towards both central and local level
“The success of all projects depends on finding good local partners” Mr. Fust explains. SDC does not implement a project unless there is also a financial contribution from the local partner as well. “If they risk the money we risk it too,” Mr. Fust says. “It shows us that our partners are really interested in the project. This is the approach of a social investment. It serves to gain credibility and helps also to justify the fund-raising in the Swiss Parliament and the policy dialogue.” Mr. Fust spends at least 20 percent of his work time in political conversation and fundraising debates.
Mr. Fust lists as the most successful projects implemented in Albania are of a local nature: Voactional Education Training (VET) program, special training facilities for handicapped people in Berat, etc. Asked wether the preference of SDC is to work with small local partners, Mr. Fust explains that the agency has to work with both levels: central by virtue of being guests in a foreign country and local by virtue of needing specific partners for implementation. The strategy of the SDC is to pick partners and institutions which will be direct beneficiaries of the projects and that will see the impact of the supported changes and developments.
Image problems
Asked about how to deal with image problems, Mr Fust refers to his rich expertise on inter-cultural communication. When lecturing to his students in the University in Lugano, in the class dedicated to Intercultural Communication, Mr. Fust uses frequently the metaphor of the iceberg. What comes up on the water is only the small visible part that changes rapidly and those changes are quite visible. The surface, that lies underneath, changes more slowly and this is valid for Albania as well.
Albania has often suffered because of a rigid image abroad connected to problems such as trafficking, smuggling and other illegal activities, an image that has given rise to many prejudices and that in the opinion of Mr. Fust should be changed as soon as possible. Indeed, he expresses a strong commitment to fighting this prejudice. “Prejudice is the worst form of judgment. If you don’t have your own opinion on something, don’t go and take others. Try to make up your own instead,” he says firmly.
There are some people in Switzerland who do hold these prejudices, but they are not the majority. They tend to be under-informed and lump Albania together with all the rest of the Balkans under a grey mental area. The second generation of Albanians living in Switzerland has served as examples of social integration and has improved the image of the other immigrants as well.
In general, the Swiss society has a quite positive attitude and a benevolent approach towards the country. Mr. Fust mentions a case in which a marginal group in the Parliament wanted to vote against including Albania in the list of priority countries to be assisted and 80 percent of the MPs disapproved, choosing to continue supporting Albania on its path to economic development and European integration. Mr. Fust is emphasizing the important role of young people in having the option and the responsibility to “turn around prejudices and show what they can do, show the real Albania.” He is confident that there is real potential based on a simple but strong vision for the future.
A curious take on EU
Despite not being in the EU, Switzerland supported with a cumulative of 1 billion Swiss francs spread over 5 years to quicken the integration process of what have become now the new member states of the EU. “Switzerland has chosen the bi-lateral way, but this does not exclude that the attitude of the people could change one day. Swiss laws are harmonized with EU laws and it is interesting to observe that Switzerland sometimes implements the EU standards with more intensity than the member states themselves. We haven’t reached the double yes (a positive result on two referenda: a popular one and one for cantons) for the EU” Mr. Fust explains on Switzerland being an island in the blue EU ocean.
Miss Swiss in Kosovo
Every year, an important competition is held in Kosovo to choose Miss Swiss and we are not talking about beautiful ladies strolling by a catwalk. This competition chooses among selected cows. The interesting story originates in 1999, when the Swiss government donated 1’700 pregnant cows to farmers, who had lost their animals because of the war. By 2007,These have turned now into around 10’000. “A farmer with no animals is not a farmer,” – Fust explains. The fact that people would even sleep with the cows illustrates how sensitive and emotional they were to this issue.
The SDC has been present in Kosovo prior to the war, during the conflict with substantial humanitarian aid and now on the verge of important political and status changes. “as much as ten percent of Kosovo people live in Switzerland which makes the country particularly sensitive about the developments going on there,” Mr. Fust explains while referring to Switzerland’s positive attitude towards a quick but sustainable status resolution favoring “the best option of self-government for the Kosovars.”
Youth is the real hope
Young people everywhere in the world have a better chance to change things, fight prejudices, realize a potential. They are not limited by conventional mental frameworks and they always come up with new ideas, explains Mr. Fust who sees the future of Albania in the hands of the country’s youth. “Albanian youth needs a simple vision, not rhetoric!” he concludes.
