Yesterday, the Prosecutor General, Rakipi, the Minister of Public Order, Ilir Gjoni, and the Head of the State Intelligence Service, Klosi, met together and drew up the arrest strategy

Within a span of 24 hours, Albanian politics witnessed two immediate political moves by the head of Albania’s Executive. A few days after Albanian and foreign media had reported that one of Meta’s men was in Belgrade, the Albanian prime minister himself declared in an interview given to the Rojter agency that we are ready to restore diplomatic relations with Belgrade. This was immediately followed by a long telephone conversation between the Albanian prime minister and Greek Prime Minister Simitis, and a meeting between them was quickly arranged. Apparently, Meta will meet Simitis in Athens at the beginning of December, on the occasion of a regional roundtable on minorities. And in Athens, a Greek newspaper reported another long telephone conversation between Meta and Papandreu. Carefully analyzed, the Albanian prime minister’s latest political actions are astute and timely. The nationalist and emotional tone adopted by some Albanian politicians recently in connection with regional issues had gradually begun to “suffocate” the government itself. Various political and diplomatic circles began to hold back in their positions toward Albania. Some began speaking of Albania’s impending self-isolation. The political cost of this naturally began to weigh on the Albanian prime minister and his government. On the other hand, Berisha’s street-protest politics, more than expressing “concern” over “manipulated” votes, apparently aims to satisfy the entire range of forces and political circles, at home and abroad, that wish to weaken the position of the Albanian State and Executive and label it the Balkans’ “black sheep.” Seen within this political picture, the Albanian prime minister’s latest diplomatic moves are more than astute actions. They speak of a realism and pragmatism that are necessary and indispensable throughout Albanian politics and at every level. The “cooling” with Greece did not turn into “ice.” On the contrary, the Meta-Simitis telephone call and their upcoming meeting “nationally speak” of a warm climate in Albanian-Greek relations. The false “nationalism” in relations with Belgrade, supposedly because of Kosovo, failed to undermine the pragmatism of official Albanian policy. US President Clinton was the first to announce the bombing of Belgrade. Yet it was he again who, in a special statement, welcomed the restoration of relations with Belgrade. Albanian politicians must understand that Kosovo can no longer be used as political capital for the advancement of their careers. It can no longer serve a paternalistic stance. The political balances among Albanians have shifted completely. And using the mentality of the 1960s at the beginning of the new century is nothing but primitivism, at a time when Albania needs realism and pragmatism.

Shkodër page 11

By Byax Kapedani

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