After Vlora, the opposition leader will travel to Tropoja, a city he has not set foot in for 3 years A dignified rally by the leader of the PD in the city where he lost power page 3

By FERDINAND XHAFERRI It is almost two weeks now that the head of Albanian diplomacy has been lost somewhere in several countries of Latin America. At present I am trying to convince myself why Mr. Milo undertook such a visit. The only justifying argument that gives this visit any sense is a connection between his surname and one of the main countries included in the minister’s tour. So Paskal has gone to visit post-Chile. The issue is not so much what kind of diplomacy Mr. Milo has chosen to pursue. This visit, along with others like it, makes it clear that we are not only dealing with a lack of clear lines for a serious Albanian diplomacy, but also with something that is not even an acceptable version of the type: diplomacy + tourism. What is openly on display is a diplomatic vision of the type: pure tourism, or perhaps worse. The above reasoning starts to come into focus because, precisely after NATO’s air campaign, which saved the Albanians living in Kosovo from a mass massacre, the Albanian diplomatic picture, instead of being very clearly oriented, has shown more than strange tendencies. The President of the Republic, at the head of a mega-delegation, was followed by a visit to China by the Minister of Defense. After that, we have visits by the Foreign Minister to several small Arab countries, culminating in the very long visit to Latin America. We should all be concerned, not so much about senior officials’ whims to embark on idiotic tourism trips, but about the fact that these may raise natural questions about our country’s Euro-Atlantic orientation. First, we have the right to ask: do we have no other problems to solve, that we undertake such visits? Second, how is it possible that precisely now, when the Kosovo issue is being discussed intensively in Western chancelleries, the Albanian chief diplomat finds it appropriate to follow the situation from Latin America? Third, all Albanian politicians are aware that, regardless of their wishes, they must align themselves with the desire of the Albanian people and all political entities for our country to have a Euro-Atlantic orientation. Some individuals, regardless of the positions they hold, are merely pawns for changing this natural direction.

Albert Minga, the best director at the 11th Albanian Film Festival for the film “Porta Eva” photo P. ILO Albert Minga, the best director at the 11th Albanian Film Festival for the film “Porta Eva” — photo P. ILO