Tirana Times
TIRANA, Oct. 21 – U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman urged the Albanian political parties to end the deadlock which is negatively affecting the country’s prospects.
Countryman came in his first visit to the country in that post, meeting with main opposition Socialist party leader Edi Rama and Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the governing Democratic Party. He also met with President Bamir Topi. Countryman highly evaluated the country’s friendship and contribution to the world and regional peace and stability and participation in the international peacekeeping missions.
“We appreciate the contribution that Albania makes to ISAF in Afghanistan, which it does not do as a favor to the U.S, but because Albania takes seriously its obligations as a member of NATO and as a member of the international community,” he said.
Upon expressing Washington’s support to Tirana’s European Union future, he said that the United States “remains committed with our presence and our political assistance and economic assistance to this region, to helping all the states of this region achieve their goals of greater prosperity and greater integration into the Euro-Atlantic institutions.”
Countryman said that “It remains a priority of the United States to help develop the rule of law in Albania, to help establish the institutions of government and the judiciary, which are independent and capable of fighting crime and ensuring a clean government at all levels in Albania. This is our priority and our message and our advice.”
The support of the United States is important. But what is more important are the difficult decisions to be made by the Albanian government, including the Albanian parliament, to move forward the goal of a judicial sector capable of independently enforcing the rule of law, he said.
He made it very clear: “I did not come here with a U.S. plan on how to resolve this impasse. I did not come here to give a blessing or a condemnation to either party in this political dispute.
It is the demand of the people of Albania that the leadership of all parties show the leadership necessary to make hard decisions, to pass the necessary legislation to improve the rule of law and to ensure that future elections in this country do not become the same source of controversy that they have been in the past. It is not the demand of the U.S.; it is what I see as the demand of the people here.|
He said that would require a lot of creativity and flexibility from both parties and, yes, it will require some compromise. The only advice I can give from a lifetime of diplomacy is that compromise needs to be seen as a strength, not a weakness, when that compromise serves the interests of the people.”
In an advice to the Albanian politicians, he said “there is a moment where you have to move beyond principled positions and to practical solutions. ŠTo move beyond the current positions, without forcing the other side to surrender all of its positions, is the essence of policy and diplomacy in any parliamentary democracy.”
He continued to say that the establishment of a genuine functioning multi-party democracy requires an active role, not just by the executive, but by the legislative as well. “decisions must be made in Tirana, and it is up to the people of Albania to demand it, and it is upon the leadership of Albania to provide it. “Countryman also said he had reminded Albanian leadership that “any change in the intelligence services in Albania needs to be done carefully, needs to be consistent with Albania’s commitments to NATO, and needs to avoid a situation in which the intelligence services become a political agency. “
