Koha Jone, Albania
26 Oct 06

Commentary accuses Albanian foreign minister of "negligence" on
Kosovo issue

by Donat Syla "Failed diplomacy"

At a meeting with a Serbian politician, Albania Foreign Minister
Besnik Mustafaj said, among other things, that "the question of the
status of Kosova [Kosovo] should not affect the process of bilateral
cooperation" and that "the relations we are building between our two
countries must be durable and long-term regardless of the positions
adopted by the two sides over Kosova’s status." As the head of
Albanian diplomacy, Mr Mustafaj must know the saying that the enemy
of my friend is my enemy. Or, in other words, the enemy of my brother
is my enemy. This is what the Canon of the Mountains [traditional
social/legal code] said.

Yet, without overcharging the issue with nationalist ideology, as we
are being told that it is not fashionable to mention that in the 21st
century, we must remark that, besides the Kosova issue, bilateral
relations between Albania and Serbia contain many elements that
undermine Albania’s position with regard to Serbia, especially in the
economic and diplomatic fields.

Why is it so? Because, despite all the destruction the Serbian
economy has suffered in the past few years, it still has the
necessary infrastructures to rise, to recover and to advance, also
with the help of the international community. In other words, the
Serbian economy will be the main one in the Western Balkans. US
diplomacy is also interested in its revival, as Daniel Fried [US
assistant secretary of state] stated during a visit he paid to
Belgrade recently, when he said that the United States wished to have
Serbia as a strategic partner and a leader in the region.

However, Albania has been showing immaturity in the diplomatic field
too, although it knows full well that, during the war in Kosova,
Serbia provoked it more than once in border incidents.

Besides, Serbia is facing criticism from international opinion and it
has not yet met its most elementary obligations under international
justice, as it has not handed over some of its main criminals
responsible for genocidal campaigns in the former Yugoslavia.

Here it is worth recalling that a little while ago France condemned
the Turkish genocide of the Armenians, although this issue directly
affects not the French, but a nation in a corner of Europe that is
striving to become a member of the European Union.

Foreign Minister Mustafaj stated recently that the issue of Kosova’s
final status would be postponed to next year. What is upsetting in
our foreign minister’s statements is that the man has been preaching
something that is not good for Kosova, something that also implies
Albania’s responsibility in this issue, which is a manifestation of
utter negligence in so important a matter.

To a certain extent, Mustafaj has paved the way for the international
factor to work for a solution to the Kosova issue that does not take
into consideration the interests of the Albanians, still less of the
Albanians who live outside Albania’s borders.

It is rather surprising that Albania has taken some bold steps in its
foreign policy towards another Balkan state – Macedonia, in this case
– knowing that backing the request of the Macedonian Albanians to
have their own flag or the request of most Macedonians to have their
country named Macedonia runs counter to Greece’s aspirations to the
territories to the north of its borders. If Albanian diplomacy had
not backed down on its statements on this issue, Albania would have
risked losing a very important economic source, taking into account
that Greek investors play a major part in the Albanian economy and
also that there are a considerable number of Albanians living and
working in Greece.

At a news conference during a Balkan conference held in Serbia a few
days ago, President Moisiu said in so many words that there could be
no compromise over Kosova’s final status. This he did in an exchange
with Serbia’s President Tadic who, among other things, tried to
present Kosova as a country in which terrorism and crime thrived. And
despite all that, Serbia wants to have Kosova back in its midst.

It follows that Serbia has nothing against dealing with "terrorists,"
or rather, terrorizing those it calls terrorists.

This can well be expected from a Serbian president. However,
considering how Albanian diplomacy has been acting over the Kosova
issue, one can clearly say that it has failed in defending the
interests of the Kosovars, as according to the head of Albanian
diplomacy the Kosova issue should not affect Albania’s relations with
Serbia.

In the meantime, Serbia is resorting to all manner of pressure to
present Kosova in the worst possible light to the international
community. The "revolted" Albanian president has, however, seen the
mistakes of Albanian diplomacy.

A sinister fate is, as always, following us both in Kosova and
Albania and, what is worse, this is due to the political
shortsightedness of our politicians.