“OSCE – Time (Not) To Go”

The Albanian Government contested allegations according to which it is pushing for the OSCE Presence in Albania to leave the country, precisely when Albania is on the threshold of an electoral year, the campaign of which has already begun and which is forecasted to be a tough one. It was a senior US diplomat who came out in public with the allegations that the government is trying to restrict the activity and evict the OSCE from Albania. Together with the objective of the Government to evict the OSCE, Washington also made public the efforts of the government to gain control of the justice system, the Prosecutor’s Office, the High Council of Justice and the country’s Secret Service, which the Constitution places under the auspices of the President and not of the Prime Minister. The United States sternly warned the government that it was taking serious steps backwards which could jeopardize Albania’s membership to NATO. Among other things, the warning of the United States that the government must keep its hands off the independent institutions and cease all efforts to evict the OSCE, is also related to next year’s parliamentary elections. “We will request that the OSCE doubles the number of its observers for the next elections,” declared PM Sali Berisha, contesting the allegations that his government is trying to get rid of the OSCE. However, irrespective of the declarations of the Prime Minister, top government officials and the OSCE Presence itself have indicated that there is at least a debate over the mandate of the OSCE in Albania. It appears that the government believes that this mandate should be reviewed; apparently the current mandate of the OSCE Presence operating in Albania does not differ a great deal from the mandate the OSCE implemented in Albania up until 18 December, 2003. There is no doubt that even in the time of the 1997 crisis in Albania the mandate of the Presence of the OSCE here included promotion of democratization, the Rule of Law, Human Rights and the consolidation of democratic institutions in conformity with OSCE principles, standards and commitments, the pillars of its current mandate. However, the difference is quite substantial; In 1997, the OSCE led the international presence in the country which mediated and solved the most severe crisis of Albania’s modern history. In 1997 all Albania offered was a state in collapse as a result of internal strife and the OSCE was one of the foremost players to commit itself to finding a settlement to the crisis and re-building the institutions of the State.
Over more than one decade Albania has changed enormously and a request to review the OSCE’s mandate and ensure that it is in line with the current requirements of the country is only natural. Now it looks as though the OSCE dabbles in everything and in nothing. Several local projects of the OSCE to provide training to patrol public beach areas, life saving/rescue operations, a project in support of police border patrolling on horseback; the re-deployment of OSCE Head Quarters from the block area, one of the most secure areas of Tirana, to the luxurious Sheraton Hotel, for security reasons have created many a joke in the capital city. Again, the OSCE’s involvement in projects which also include the organization of seminars on European Integration or similar subjects have frequently resulted in the OSCE being perceived as a local NGO. It is quite probable that this is also a problem of perception and communication, but even if this is the case, then this constitutes a problem for the OSCE and not only for this organization. Following the 1997 crisis in Albania, it would have been highly beneficial if the OSCE had become creatively involved in the state building process, for which Albania has an enormous need.
A review of the mandate from this point of view would be most helpful, first for Albania, but also for the OSCE itself. The debate over the OSCE’s mandate has arisen in the context of the upcoming elections. In an effort to dissolve the slightest fear that the government is trying to get rid of the OSCE Presence on the threshold of elections, the Prime Minister says he will ask for double the usual number of OSCE election observers. However acquiring a certification of free and fair elections does not hinge merely on performance on the election day. The primary argument which cannot be neglected supporting the OSCE’s on-going presence in Albania is related precisely to elections. Albania is one of the very few, if not the only country in SE Europe which has not passed the test of the transition and confirmation of power via free and fair elections. To make it look as though it has a great deal to do, the OSCE may undertake projects that other’s should be doing, but it is neglecting its main job – elections. Sadly, there have been no creative ideas or projects forthcoming that would contribute to the fundamental issue-the holding of free and fair elections. Today, in Albania the electoral process, the freedom of the vote could be undermined, for example, not so much by the use of police or media brutality or by the usage of public resources, but by far more sophisticated means, such as for example, the monies used to purchase, apart from licenses, favours, high-up posts in the administration, but also the freedom of the vote which is the freedom of the individual to chose.
It is naturally not so difficult for the OSCE to emerge triumphant over the government which is working towards, if not the OSCE’s dismissal, at least its frustration on the eve of political elections. It is Berisha’s Administration and the Prime Minister himself who make this duel easy for the OSCE. However, as the current Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Stubbs declared, “The OSCE is here to help the Albanian people.” The primary assistance that the OSCE should be providing is linked with elections, the Electoral Code, the electoral administration and all the other institutions that guarantee a free, fair and transparent electoral process.