“I’ll reveal the secrets of the Pact”
Paskal MILO
On June 10 in Cologne and on July 30, 1999, in Sarajevo, the foundations were laid for an undertaking described as historic and named the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. The ideas and objectives announced there the day after the end of the bloody conflict in Kosovo were appealing and sparked an optimism in the region that was sometimes excessive. Many people, through no fault of their own, thought that the Stability Pact would be a “Marshall Plan” that would transform South Eastern Europe within a relatively short time. But only a few months would pass before people began to realize that things were not as rosy as they had seemed at first, and that the challenges were greater than those that had been anticipated.
The Albanian government recognizes the difficulties involved in implementing the Stability Pact, the challenges of the moment and those ahead. We are witnessing the critical and suspicious mood that, over time, has surrounded the entire process. While properly understanding the concerns about the pace and degree of commitment being shown by the main international actors in implementing the Stability Pact, one must also understand the shift from the emotions and solidarity of the Kosovo conflict period to the “realpolitik” of today. This phenomenon, which has replaced idealistic goodwill with the logic of concrete possibilities, must be faced realistically and in a constructive spirit. Albanians must understand it before the viruses of total nihilism and the strains of political theopism are injected into them, and before, along with them, the “philosophers” of day-and-night cafés try to blacken the white page. I am of the opinion that the personality still has...
Continued on pages 12–13