The first Spaniard to have visited Albania is perhaps Cervantes with his famous Don Quixote. Through the help of Don Quixote, I can attest that Albanians were fine precisely duringŧthe time of cholera’! It is certainly surprising that such a quixotic regime like the one of communist Albania allowed Cervantes in. In those times of the absurd, it was through Cervantes that we Albanians ridiculed what was perhaps the most quixotic regime of the entire world. And that felt good! And thought well of Spain at that time. We loved Spain. Others can also attest to how El Greco, even Picasso, Salvador Dali, and poets of the Spanish renaissance managed to enter Albania illegally. And we loved Spain over and over again.
Many years have gone by and the time of our secret love affair with the unrivaled Spanish arts has ended. For years now, we have been free to enjoy, to understand and to feel good, to the extent of intoxication, with Spanish arts and culture, which became an empire on their own as if to substitute a Spanish empire that had begun its demise centuries ago.
I am not mentioning all of this simply to recall that we, Albanians, have loved Spain and have discovered Spain long before Spain discovered Albania. So, apart from this first love of Spanish arts and culture, what is currently happening between the two countries.
As of three years, Spain is very present in Albania through an admirable number of projects on the economy, reform of state institutions and, of course, through investments in the sphere of culture. No other western country has been able, in such a short time, to awake the attention and admiration of Albanian society.
According to a study of the Albanian Institute for International Studies, Albanians perceive Spain as one of the most important countries of Europe, and the Albanian government should view relations with Spain with a sense of priority. The persistence and consistence of the Spanish government to strengthen relations with Albania is not hard to notice. It is beyond doubt that inter-state relations are based on interests. And with Spain, Albania currently shares NATO membership, not to mention membership in many other international institutions. A common future in the European Union is another tie with Spain. And a rational foreign policy, based upon a vision of the future, necessitates the strengthening of Albanian-Spanish relations. Spain is actively doing this. Albania is not. Or at least it appears to be doing it bizarrely, not granting it the deserved seriousness.
Albanian policy-makers, including those dealing with foreign policy, have still not liberated themselves from that trap we have set up ourselves according to which the West, Europe should help Albania. Public debate on foreign affairs is mundanely full of clich고sourcing from this trap, such as “How is Germany helping Albania?”, “What is Italy doing for us?”, “We highly appreciate the help that Spain is giving to our country”, etc.
Has it not come to the point when we should come out of this trap? Albania is a NATO member now, and in a few years’ time it will be an EU member too. How constructive can then be this kind of mentality that we have constructed in our relations with Europe, or the world?
Spain, and our relations to Spain are a good example to review the mentality and conduct of Albania in foreign affairs twenty years after the fall of communism. In his new programme of governance, Prime Minister Berisha ranked Spain as one of the great powers of Europe with which Albania ought to deepen relations. Let us hope this is indeed a reflection at the right time. A timely realisation that ought to be followed by the full establishment of a long-missing Albanian representation in Spain.
