TIRANA, April 30 – The Albanian Foreign Ministry has issued a stern statement after it summoned Russian Ambassador to Tirana Alexander Karpushin to express its strong disagreement about a recent statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning the armed attack on police near the Macedonia-Kosovo border.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was “deeply alarmed” by the reported incident. It added, “the situation is made worse by a major lack of law obedience and security in Kosovo, which obviously stems from the unresolved Kosovo problem in general. The calls for a Greater Albania that are heard more and more often in the region cannot be overlooked either.”
Tirana said the statement was unacceptable.
The Albanian Foreign Ministry referred to the Russian statement as “blackmail” that does “not serve for a constructive approach in the region, nor do they respect the widely accepted principles of international rights.”
It added, “Albania is a NATO member and a candidate to join the EU and any blackmailing statement from Russia will be seen from this perspective.”
The Albanian MFA said it also asked the Russian Federation to face “the reality of the Western Balkans, where the independence of Kosovo constitutes a significant contribution to the democratic future and the stability of the region.”
Russia’s embassy in Tirana expressed its displeasure with the Albanian foreign ministry statement, saying it was inappropriate, misguided and did not properly convey the overall positive atmosphere of the meeting with the ambassador at the ministry.
“We would recommend to the authors of the [Albanian] statement to fully look-up the meaning of the word ‘blackmail’ and refrain from using it inappropriately in the future in official statements of the foreign policy institution,” the Russian embassy said in a statement to Albanian media.
Albania and Russia relations, which were never very warm to begin with due to Russia’s support of Serbia against Kosovo’s independence, have cooled down significantly in recent months, as Tirana took a strong pro-Western line in the Ukraine crisis.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has said he considers the strategy followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Europe as a threat, saying that Europe must react.
Rama made those comments for the German media during a visit to Stuttgart during the weekend.
“Putin followed a strategy which is an absolute threat for Europe. This is an uncontrolled strategy which became concrete with the annexation of Crimea and on the other hand, the intervention in Eastern Ukraine is not coming to an end,” Rama said.
A few days ago, Albania rejected an invitation to participate in a military parade organized by Russia to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, in line with the positioning of other strategic partners.
