The government will soon make public the name of the new Albanian ambassador to Washington. In fact, the proposed ambassador the government will introduce publicly will simply be a candidate until the government’s nomination is approved by the the country’s president, who has that right under the constitution. It also goes without saying that the candidate must also be accepted by the the host executive, in this case the White House.
The current ambassador to Washington is retiring, and the new administration of Prime Minister Edi Rama, which won the June 23 elections last year, has been reviewing, according to diplomatic sources, several candidates and is expected to decide on one of two of them, who have been very competitive. An administration source suggested that each of the two candidates which will soon be named will likely cause strong surprise for the public at large and diplomatic circles in the country, but will also arouse great admiration in Washington, at the State Department and in other parts of the U.S. government, even at the White House.
During the last twenty years, Tirana governments have not led to any admiration of excellence on who they have chosen to send to the White House, although there have been one or two cases when the envoys have been truly wise men, professors with deep understanding of policy and international affairs. In most cases, the criteria by which the government has decided on who will be the ambassador of Albania to Washington has been left to nepotism, cronyism or just has been completely random and sometimes, for example, completely random though having an affiliation with the big shots, or the wife, son, daughter or aunt of one of the big shots.
Besides nepotism, the motives for choosing Albanian ambassadors in Western capitals, including Washington, can be related to individual interests of the leaders. In most cases, these interests are not political, but rather ordinary, as banal as the organization of shopping trips for the visiting leaders’ families. Despite the diversity of motives, the underlying principle that has mostly dominated the nomination of ambassadors in Western capitals, including (though not all) those sent to Washington, has not been clear in the top priority such a post must have, which is to serve Albania and its state and public offices.
It is a public secret that the Albanian Foreign Service, including the office in Washington, was always more like diplomatic services of kingdoms or dynasties of the Middle East, caring across the world simply for the king and his court.
But back to the new ambassador, whom the government must carefully choose to send to Washington. The change would be great, because, simply, the new administration has decided to apply the selection criteria and procedures of candidacy for ambassador to Washington. To be exact, it is not that these criteria, procedures and laws did not exist before, but simply, governments have not implemented them.
Now, there is the opportunity to implement and enforce compliance procedures and criteria. The government has come up with two strong candidates and it is hesitant in which one to choose. Both are very competitive. The names are not yet public. But what we have learned so far is that the government is relying on the Law of the Diplomatic Service of the country and the best democratic experiences.
Small countries send the best to Washington and the government has decided to take this appointment seriously.
Based on the Law of Foreign Service in Western best practices, the government sets the criteria for competitive candidates under two options.
Option one: The candidate for ambassador to Washington comes from politics. It is legal and legitimate. By law, the Foreign Service can be if not 20 percent, at least 15 percent with ambassadors that come from politics.
The new administration will have its own policy in Washington, which is probably the most political capital in the world. But the government does not merely send a political figure, but rather an important one for the administration, who knows foreign policy and international affairs, a politician who comes from a party background but has the ability to represent in Washington all policies and above all, the interests of the country. A political candidate of choice is someone that is a natural diplomat with knowledge, culture, not to mention perfect English skills.
Option Two: The government decides to review and have a potential candidate to send to Washington from the best, most talented and most experienced members of the foreign service.
The dilemma which the government now faces is the fact that the candidate coming from politics, in fact, very solid and uncontested, faces competition from a strong alternative candidate who comes from the Foreign Service.
Administration sources say the candidate chosen by the service would have aroused envy in countries with strong experience and track record of diplomatic service, some stemming their traditions from the time of the Italian Renaissance, where modern diplomacy was born.
Due to the fact that both the candidates, who come from politics and the Foreign Service, not only meet all the legal and professional requirements, but would both be perfectly safe in terms of public approval, it is reasonable that the government must provide advance consultation with the head of state, who holds final approval of the nominee.
It is clear that the president is looking forward to hear the government’s final choice and sign the decree that provides final approval for the appointment of ambassador to Washington.
Also, due to the approval that each of the candidates would face in Washington, a prior exchange with the host country would not be necessary in this case until the nomination is made official.
The name will be made public very soon and the nomination will likely be welcomed at home and abroad.
Diplomaticus Jr.
