The fatal peace mission
ALBA officially weighed anchor yesterday. The multinational force that for four months replaced the violent component of the destroyed Albanian state, restored Albanians’ confidence in the future and proved that the West’s patience with Albanian madness always has an end, however distant — it folded the flag raised on 14 April this year. Four months after more than 7,000 soldiers from eight European countries landed at the port of Durrës, two defence ministers and a lieutenant general shook hands for the last time at Tirana’s military airport, thus marking the successful end of the second multinational mission in the history of Albanian pluralism.
Undertaking a military mission in a Balkan country is not a new experience for Western diplomacy. The classic precedent of Bosnia ret- [text cut off at the lower edge] resurfaces whenever the traditionally turbulent situation in the Balkans is discussed. But the situation in Albania was undoubtedly among the strangest crises ever encountered. Arriving in Albania with the heaviest weaponry, ALBA’s soldiers had only a very vague idea of the mission’s purpose and objective. The total chaos our country went through after the financial pyramid crisis created an absurd situation in which there was no state, but there was no civil war either. The West responded relatively quickly to the appeal by the newly installed Government of National Reconciliation to send a military force to Albania, passing a resolution through the UN Security Council by an expedited procedure, where it gave the green light to the mission that was to restore normality in a country driven mad by political hatred. Now that ALBA has officially completed the task for which it came to Albania, now that elections have been held, there is a government and a parliament, and the limbs of the state are taking shape, the conditions and the time are right to judge the influence that the foreign military presence had on resolving the crisis in Albania. Before and after the 29 June elections, there was no shortage of criticism of the multinational mission, almost all of it from the camp of those preparing to relinquish the ruler’s throne. Meanwhile, the opposition seeking victory considered the presence of foreign soldiers essential from the outset, even during the voting process. This clash between the two positions also marked the dividing line in attitudes towards an international undertaking that did not escape politicization for the petty aims of Albanian politics. But ALBA was here and accompanied us throughout our difficult journey towards the end of the tunnel. Now that things are beginning to fall into place, this is the essence of what remains of four months of a Western mission on Albanian soil. The soldiers’ commitment, a life cut short, and much effort and sacrifice give us Albanians the moral right to raise our hand against those who came to help us when we needed help more than ever. Through ALBA, the West showed that it knows how to respond when necessary. But also that what we went through was severe and unprecedented. Now it is up to us to follow a little minority of the young people who, from three or four corners of Europe, from April to August, tried to stop our headlong rush towards the abyss. K.J
ALBA, departure ceremony yesterday. “Mother Teresa” on the chest of Commander-in-Chief Forlani
Photo GENT SHKULLAKU