As the country heads to elections, issues of security are rising to the top, with Albanians uneasy over concerns ranging from crime to tainted food
TIRANA, Feb. 28, 2013 – The murder of the third high-ranking police officer in just a few weeks, a perceived rise in violent crime and concerns over contaminated food have left Albanians feeling uneasy in what they see as growing insecurity in the country.
As Albania approaches the next parliamentary elections, the theme of security has become a major campaign component, with the opposition arguing that the government has overseen a worsening of security indicators, while the government points out to data that Albania is still very safe by European standards, and vowing to crack down on perpetrators of recent acts as well make sure the regulations on the books are enforced.
Analysts say that there are several elements at play behind the recent trends in the security sector.
First, they point out that that the elections themselves create a general period of unease in Albania, because many public sector jobs, from police officers to regulatory enforcers depend on political affiliations.
Second, they warn that the growth in family violence and street crime is partly a result of the worsening economic crisis that has left many to the breaking point.
Third, health security issues that range from the food Albanian consume to the materials used in their buildings are a sign of a weak state and can be addressed only by strengthening authorities to meet EU standards.
Elections and security
At time of highly-politicized debate, the murders of three senior policemen in a short time span have entered the electoral campaign as part of the general theme of law and order.
Albania has had a string of violent incidents in recent months varying from people getting knifed to death as they take public transport to one family member murdering another. These types of events, happening with unfortunate regularity, have shaken the public’s confidence in law and order in the country.
Critics question the police’s ability to keep people safe as authorities had failed to act to solve crimes or preempt them even when there were clear signs of future violence. For example, in the central city of Elbasan, a father killed his son and his Italian girlfriend after the father had asked for police protection. The father alleged his son was beating him up. The son had recently been deported home after serving prison time in Italy.
But it was the latest killing, that of a police chief in Tirana that has become a full political scandal. Police were quick to find and lay charges on the alleged perpetrators, but the next day, a photo of one of the accused eating dinner and drinking with some of Albania’s highest police officials emerged, causing uproar in political circles.
The main opposition Socialist Party has asked for the dismissal of all the high-ranking police officers in the photo as well as the interior minister. Albania’s social media scene also erupted in angry exchanges against the police officials pictured in the photo.
But the interior minister and the top police official of the country say the photo was taken in back in 2010, and the senior officials were not participating in this particular investigation. As such, the photo does not compromise the police’s ability to do it’s work in this case, they argue.
However, because this is election season, everything is likely to be affected by it, analysts note, as elections always disrupt the work of public officials — even technocrats — because most public sector jobs, from police officers to regulatory enforcers depend on political affiliations.
Economic pressures
The rise in violent crime has been particularly unsettling for Albanians because despite a bad reputation outside the country, Albania has been generally very safe in recent years, with crime data making Tirana, for example, safer than most large cities in the European Union.
Much of the crime too in the past had been targeted, without affecting the population at large. That’s now changing, and it has politicians vying to use the situation to either gain or keep votes.
Some analysts argue that the rise in crime in Albania is directly linked with the growing economic unease in the country and tied to the social effects of increasing poverty and the return of Albanian immigrants from abroad, many of whom have returned home broke and without job prospects. Violent crime, particularly inside families, is often tied to immigration or recent arrivals under economic pressures.
At least one study has called the return of immigrants a “ticking social time bomb,” and analysts worry that since 2013 is expected to be a tough year economically, things will likely get worse, not better.
Enforcing safety regulations
Beyond the issue of crime — law and order — this week’s events included a tainted food scare that served as a reminder that Albania is unable to implement the regulations it has on the books on issues that affect health.
Authorities in Kosovo first found that packaged milk produced by two local dairies in Albania contained the toxic and carcinogenic substances known as Aflatoxins.
The Albanian authorities said they don’t have the proper accreditation to test for this particular toxin, despite the fact that its presence has been a problem in several other countries in the region. Their initial findings have been sent to accredited labs in Italy and the Netherlands.
However, when the testing was done in Albania, it showed the Albanian milk did in fact contain higher levels of the toxin than EU standards allow, but authorities said the amount was less than what other developed nations, for example the United States, allow in their own products. Aflatoxins are produced by mould and can damage human and animal health if they enter the food chain in significant concentrations. The alleged contamination does not come from the factory producing the milk but from the stuff serving as food for the cows.
One of the companies said it routinely tested their milk, which was safe and met all necessary standards.
The milk scare was quickly followed by investigative journalists reporting that a dangerous banned animal growth hormone and steroid, Boldemec, was widely available in veterinary pharmacies, where farmers could purchase it for their cows. The hormone is officially banned in Albania.
The news comes at the heels of a study that asbestos, the dangerous cancer-causing construction material, is still allowed to be imported in Albania, despite a total ban in the European Union. Known as amiant in Albania, asbestos is apparently being used in ornate ceilings buildings.
