By Karsten Ankj粠Jensen
Mr. Ambassador, you are leaving Albania after a long stay. What are the impressions you are taking with you? What are your expectations on the new assignment in China, a reality so distant and different from our country?
Moving to another posting is a fact of life for a diplomat. But I am sad to have to leave Albania and its people. I have developed a deep love for Albania and the Albanians. Your self is by far the biggest asset of this country and never have I felt more welcome anywhere. The hospitality and friendship I have been extended has been absolutely overwhelming. I have met few Albanians I didn’t immediately like, and for me it has been a revelation to come here and for four years experience this fantastic people and country, which for most of my life was a hidden jewel of Europe. I truly believe Albanians have much to teach their fellow Europeans, indeed the world, about hospitality, religious harmony, tolerance and hard work. And Europe needs Albania’s wise and constructive role in this turbulent part of Europe. I deeply regret I never learned Albanian, but I did learn the most important word of all: Faleminderit. For if there is one thing, I want to say to the Albanian people upon leaving, it is ‘Faleminderit’.
I have also been truly impressed by the rapid pace of change here. The Albania I came to is in many ways radically different from the Albania I leave. Watching what Albanian ingenuity and determination combined with incredible hard work can accomplish has made me an optimist for the future of this nation.
But I have also come to realize that the huge potential of the Albanian people and Albania are denied by dysfunctional politics. And increasingly so. So much that dysfunctional politics are risking obliterating Albania’s European prospects for the foreseeable future and even its economic potential unless fundamental and dramatic changes occur quickly. But the Albanian people need to step up to the voting booth and say a resounding “mjaft” for it to happen, I am afraid.
As to my new posting in China. Quite frankly, I have not had much time to think about it or prepare. But going there was a personal wish, now that I must leave Albania behind. I find it fascinating to get the opportunity to be present in one most important centers of the new global world order and going to a country which in immensely impressive ways have been able to leap into the future in record time by playing its cards well. But Albania and Albanians will always have a huge place in my heart.
Your last interview at Java, has stirred a wide wave of reactions in the public opinion. Significant interest has risen also from other statements, interviews or speeches you have delivered. Can you sincerely tell us, at the conclusion of your Albanian experience, why Ambassador Jensen was so distinctive in the Tirana diplomatic community?
It is really not up to me to judge, but of course when you choose to speak publicly about what most others only talk about in private, it may create waves and ruffle some feathers. But I think we internationals have a political and moral responsibility to assist the Albanian people in fulfilling their desire to reunite with Europe. No one deserves it more. No one has been denied opportunities so consistently. No one wants it more. What has guided me is the belief that the best way to help, is to tell the truth like it is and in a way people understand. At the end of the day, it is the people of Albania who decide their future and they need to be informed about the challenges.
If we in order to keep up polite appearances use language in public where thistles are called roses, failures are labeled partial successes and crooks occasionally endorsed as leaders, how can we expect the Albanian people to understand what needs to be done and not done for your country to join Europe? How can we expect the Albanian people, who for so long have been forcedly isolated and denied democracy, to choose their leaders wisely and make the proper decisions, if we keep silent when we know the truth?
The use of diplomatic parlance during the last 20 years, whatever the justification, clearly has not led to the expected results. Not only is Albania not yet a EU-member as it had the potential to be. It is behind the curve getting even the status of being a candidate.
The first step in solving a problem is to clearly identify it. That is what I have tried to do. Not to offend, but to offer friendly and honest advice to help the Albanians achieve their expressed goals and desires. It is the Danish way. My foreign minister for Europe, Nikolaj Wammen, spoke with similar clarity during his recent visit when meeting Albanian politicians.
Following the Stability and Association-agreement, where Albania signed up European standards, and the application for EU-candidate status, the Albanian team chose to leave the training camp and get unto the field. Now it is serious. It is no longer merely a moral obligation to speak out. I think it is a duty for those who wish to see Albania score and ultimately win.
We have just gone through a disturbed election of the Head of the Albanian State. How did you experience this process? To what extent did he meet the maximal objective that was set by the international community, and that your Presidency had defined, regarding the modus operandi of the Albanian political class and the identity of the new head of state? Did the Albanian politics accomplish with success this benchmark of political maturity?
There are several issues here. Looking at it formally, both the process and the outcome were within the legal boundaries set by the Albanian Constitution, but clearly not within the spirit of the letter. The outcome also demonstrated the flaws of the current Constitution in safeguarding the division of powers and the independence of institutions. So speaking from a procedural point of view, the Presidential election was a significant set back for Albanian democracy. And this against a backdrop of an already troubling concentration of power in recent years noted by EU progress reports and other international findings.
Time will show whether or not the outcome of the Presidential election will have adverse effects on the already challenged state of democracy. But for all practical purposes, ensuring institutional independence now hinges on Mr. Nishani personally. Whatever the good qualities of Mr. Nishani, democracy ought not be reliant on the integrity and personality of an individual. Thus, what happens to the General Prosecutor, the Head of SHISH and future nominations for judges will obviously be very closely monitored in Tirana and abroad.
In the EU context, the Presidential election was given importance beyond the selection of a new head of state.
Europe had in no uncertain terms made clear to your political leaders that the election would be a litmus test of Albanian democracy and the maturity of politics. It was also made clear that the handling and outcome of the election would impact Albania’s potential for EU candidate status this year.
Yet, decisive elements of the political class chose once more to put personal power over the interests of Albania and the Albanian people.
We face the challenge of the candidate country status for the third time. Are we really near this objective this time?
In previous interviews, I have raised question marks over the political class’s true willingness to bring Albania into EU. How can you do otherwise, when there is too often an abyss between what is being said and what is actually done? How can you do otherwise, when international advice time after time is neglected, when promises are routinely broken, when politicians say one thing one day and do the opposite the day after?
The depressing fact is that the international community for more than twenty years has spent a mindboggling amount in aid and other assistance to help Albania get on track towards Europe. Similar efforts in the other former Communist countries of Europe have been crowned with success. They are now members of the EU. In Albania, however, the powers that be have steadfastly stuck their heels in the ground and over the years turned down many opportunities handed to them. Not in words, for nowhere has the EU perspective been celebrated and hailed by an entire political class as in Albania; but in deed, after deed, after deed. When you see such behavior being consistently rewarded by the Albanian electorate, you must forgive internationals for sometimes feeling that Albanian EU-integration seems a mission impossible.
However, at no time has Albania had so many opportunities to advance towards Europe as during the past four years. Apart from NATO-membership and visa-liberalization, most have been rejected. Again: Not vocally – on the contrary, for all the right things are being said – but in what counts: actions and deeds.
With candidate status practically being handed to Albania on a silver platter this year, but effectively refused by actions and non-actions during the last several months, I find it difficult to reach any other conclusion than that the dominant forces in politics have no real desire to bring Albania and the Albanian people into EU. The pattern of consistently missed opportunities is undeniable.
I am being extremely blunt, but I think it needs to be said.
Now turning to your specific question about whether candidate status is possible this year:
Whether to recommend candidate status is exclusively up to the European Commission. But whether to grant it is the sole purview of the member states. Each of the 27 EU member states has to vote yes. Quite frankly, I find a consensus among member states increasingly unlikely, even if the Commission were to recommend candidate status, given the lack of a track record of tangible progress in politics, in rule of law, in fighting corruption, building up institutional capacity, etc. In fact, there have been important set backs in all areas. Some spectacular. However, time has not yet run out for miracles. But it is the Albanian government that needs to deliver on the vast majority of outstanding issues, for the simple reason that the government, and not the opposition, is in power.
I still have a glimmer of hope that Albania will be able to crown its 100th Anniversary with candidate status, but I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I claim to have much optimism left after the events of 2012. I don’t se any signs of real political will. I would like to be proven wrong though. For the Albanian people deserve candidate status.
During your mandate, you have been very sensitive toward adverse phenomena that our country is going through. Among these, you have placed a special emphasis on corruption. Is Albania a less corrupted country at the end of your mandate as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark in Tirana?
Sadly corruption has gotten worse year over year. That is not only an impression. It is a fact. Transparency International and others have documented the trend in their yearly reports. And it is a cancer that is beginning to pervade all levels of society. I heard a particular sad example recently, where someone had to bribe a municipal employee in order to get a grave for a deceased family member. It has come to that.
However, Albanian friends are quick to point out – which is true – that corruption here is not dramatically higher than elsewhere in the region, even counting EU members. But this is precisely why the deeply ingrained corruptive habits have become perhaps the biggest obstacle for Albania’s EU integration.
Many Northern Europeans see the crisis in Europe as ignited by the ills of the political culture of Southern Europe, and they feel that they have been passed an astronomical bill to bail out the South for its self-inflicted problems.
Fair or not, you will not find much if any understanding for opening EU’s door to a country governed by a political class, which have shown no real will to tackle corruption, graft or cheat. Or even cooperate. In several EU member states, importing yet another set of problems is today plainly unthinkable, I am afraid.
Interview by Skender Minxhozi
