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text:tirana_23:tirana_23_en [2023/09/20 07:22] admin [19 September, Tirana, Hotel Terrace] |
text:tirana_23:tirana_23_en [2023/09/28 11:35] (aktuell) admin [Does the "West" exist in Albania?] |
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- | ====== 2023: Tirana, | + | ====== 2023: Tirana, |
//**( 17.- 23. September 2023)**//\\ | //**( 17.- 23. September 2023)**//\\ | ||
- | {{ : | + | {{: |
- | ===== 17 September, on the plane ===== | + | ===== Does the " |
+ | //17 September, on the plane// | ||
- | On the way to Tirana, I try to eavesdrop on my questions for this trip within myself. Albania is a small country that is not part of the EU, but has been a candidate country since 2014. Accession negotiations started on 19 July 2022. | + | On the way to Tirana, I try to eavesdrop on my questions for this trip within myself. Albania is a small country that is not part of the EU, but has been a candidate country since 2014. Accession negotiations started on 19 July 2022. |
- | In 1991, a communist dictatorship that had lasted 45 years and was one of the most extreme in Europe, the regime | + | Albania went through |
- | {{ : | + | What is the promise of the " |
- | ===== 18 September, Breakfast terrace of the Boheme Hotel ===== | + | {{ : |
- | {{ : | + | ===== A sad longing ===== |
- | At the dinner table yesterday, a conversation started between fellow travellers. A woman from Poland, in Germany for 6 years, and another from Frankfurt an der Oder, in Berlin for 20 years. The young Polish woman talked about her country, which she had left. She would like to understand why Poland became like this, so right-wing. If she understood, maybe she could change it. The two women puzzled over this subject together with a kind of perplexed resignation. The German woman, who fled the spiritual confines of Frankfurt an der Oder as soon as she could, suggests that it is because of Poland' | + | //18 September, breakfast terrace |
+ | {{ : | ||
- | {{ : | + | During dinner last night, a conversation developed between fellow travellers at the table opposite me. A woman from Poland, in Germany for 6 years, and another from Frankfurt an der Oder, in Berlin for 20 years. The young Polish woman spoke about her country, which she had left. She would like to understand why Poland has become like this, so right-wing. If she understood, maybe she could change it. The two women puzzled this subject together with a kind of perplexed resignation. The German woman, who fled the mental confines of Frankfurt an der Oder as quickly as possible, suspects that it is because of Poland' |
- | In their conversation, | + | {{ : |
- | I recognise "my West" in the longing of the two women. But I have a doubt. | + | In the conversation between |
+ | The Polish woman is stunned that her compatriots behave differently. As if they would deny themselves a hard-won freedom again. As if in an incomprehensible masochistic fit. | ||
- | ===== 19 September, Tirana, Hotel Terrace | + | I recognise "my West" in the longing of the two women. But I have a doubt. I find the ideal of the " |
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== The transformation of city and state - a first contact | ||
+ | |||
+ | //18 September, Tirana// | ||
Construction is underway in Tirana. The old city centre is pushed aside by ambitious, towering spires. The city administration is trying to gradually legalise or demolish the many illegal buildings and conversions. Since 2016, there has been a land register that can also be viewed online. Online, i.e. anonymously available to anyone and everyone. There are no more gatekeepers who can be paid for access to information. This seems to be a principle in the attempt to push back corruption in Albania. A mammoth task, a fight against a many-armed octopus. | Construction is underway in Tirana. The old city centre is pushed aside by ambitious, towering spires. The city administration is trying to gradually legalise or demolish the many illegal buildings and conversions. Since 2016, there has been a land register that can also be viewed online. Online, i.e. anonymously available to anyone and everyone. There are no more gatekeepers who can be paid for access to information. This seems to be a principle in the attempt to push back corruption in Albania. A mammoth task, a fight against a many-armed octopus. | ||
- | {{ : | + | {{ : |
- | You have to imagine the Albania of the Hoxha era like a North Korea in Europe, the mayor of the city is quoted as saying. There was no private property, no rights of individuals vis-à-vis the state. That is why today there is no "trust in the state" to build on, to rebuild. The ideals of the West have no tradition here, they are being re-established. One of Albania' | + | You have to imagine the Albania of the Hoxha era like a North Korea in Europe, the mayor of the city is quoted as saying. There was no private property, no rights of individuals vis-à-vis the state. That is why today there is no "trust in the state" to build on, to rebuild. The ideals of the West have no tradition here, they are being newly founded. One of Albania' |
- | In democracy, everything takes a long time and Albania has no time. There are hardly any rules in the face of capitalism, and even the judiciary and legislation were for sale. That time is over now, so hope people here whose vocation includes hoping. The politicians and other shapers of the future. At the Ministry of Justice, the two deputy ministers of justice, Klaijdi Karameta and Adea Pirdeni, explain their tasks on the frontline | + | In democracy, everything takes a long time and Albania has no time. There are hardly any rules in the face of capitalism, and even the judiciary and legislation were for sale. That time is over now, so hope people here whose vocation includes hoping. The politicians and other shapers of the future. At the Ministry of Justice, the two deputy ministers of justice, Klaijdi Karameta and Adea Pirdeni, explain |
- | {{ : | + | {{ : |
- | Albania is an old country and an old people with an old language and culture. | + | Albania is an ancient |
Old and peculiar, oppressed and humiliated, but now in youthful awakening and full of zest for action, that is how I encounter this country. It is not naïve hope for the West that I find here so far. Nor do I find the disappointment I was expecting, the disappointment in Western hypocrisy. | Old and peculiar, oppressed and humiliated, but now in youthful awakening and full of zest for action, that is how I encounter this country. It is not naïve hope for the West that I find here so far. Nor do I find the disappointment I was expecting, the disappointment in Western hypocrisy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== EU Integration ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | //19 September, Tirana, House of Parliamentary Administration// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Jorida Tabaku from the Democratic Party and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration took time for us. She is part of the opposition to the ruling Socialist Party. But on the point of EU accession, Albanian parties are united with civil society. There are 15 key EU criteria for which the collection of the status quo has now been completed. Most important in the Albania/EU relationship are the criteria " | ||
+ | |||
+ | For years, Germany has been very involved in the preparations for EU enlargement in the Balkans. At the political level, but also with many concrete development projects, e.g. in schools and training or in accompanying migration and return migration. This help is very welcome. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Fatos, post-democracy and the Hoxha era ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | //19 September, in the mountains outside Tirana// | ||
+ | |||
+ | But in the evening, Fatos Lubonja, a journalist, author and human rights activist who survived over 17 years in the labour camps of the Hoxha regime, will criticise the aid from abroad. With them, Albania is like a tree that grows with its roots upwards. It is well-intentioned on the part of the EU, but actually development must come from within Albania and not be alimented from outside. Like a crowd of underage children, Albanian society is lurching seamlessly from dictatorship to post-democratic society, he says. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | What he calls the post-democratic society of the monopoly oligarchs is what drives him. For him, the hope for a democratic development of Albania and the entire former Eastern Bloc failed at the moment when the winners of the transition, the oligarchs, stopped fighting each other and instead individuals asserted themselves. Using Russia as an example, he describes this as the transition from the Yeltsin system to the Putin system. At first, Fatos had hoped that a pluralistic democracy could emerge from the ideological competition between the oligarchs. But then, says Fatos, pure economic interests prevailed, which today are only politically disguised. Stagings to deceive the population and the world public and to keep them busy on insignificant sideshows. While the real masterminds increase their wealth. The politicians of the world no longer have any power in this economically subjugated globalisation. The programmes of the parties no longer differ, everything political is just an empty spectacle. Such is Fatos' impressively vivid, deeply pessimistic analysis. He describes the neoliberal reality of today' | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Fatos Lubonja survived Hoxha' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Interlude: Illyria ===== | ||
+ | //20 September, a day tour by bus// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Our tour group takes a day of historical and scenic sightseeing between the fortress of Berat and the old port city of Durres. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | In Illyria, where great cities and empires existed since ancient times, tourism is now moving in with a vengeance. Religions came and went, never causing fatal problems here, not even today. As if there were a deeper and more original identity. Perhaps the Albanian language? It was already ancient in antiquity and is considered one of the three independent branches of the Indo-European language family, together with Ancient Greek and Armenian. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | History since antiquity is tangible everywhere, not only next to the newly discovered amphitheatre in Durres. It's as if you only have to push aside some of the rubble of time above it with your foot. Great names fall. Caesar fought a battle against Pompey here, Constantine the Great came from here. Onufri created his stylistic icons with the incomparable red here. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | On the magnificent promenade of Durres, one large hotel after the other, sometimes with half-finished concrete floors, looks out at the moon over the Adriatic. Our Turkish travel companion feels "just like in Antalya", | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then it's back to Tirana. On the periphery of the city are the industrial areas. Slowly, the focus of the Albanian economy shifted from agriculture to industry and from there to services in industry and real estate. After 1991, when Albania' | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Today, many of the young men are abroad, but like then, they provide for their families at home. Remittances from abroad are a big economic factor in Albania. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Vocational School ===== | ||
+ | //21 September, Kamza// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | 1500 students study at the vocational school in Kamza/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Today, school is free of charge for all Albanians, but only a few schools are as well equipped as this one. Many Albanian families are nevertheless too poor to finance their children' | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | "What would help your school?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== The Uka farm ===== | ||
+ | //21 September, Laknas// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | In 1996, the entomologist Rexhep Uka, who resigned as Minister of Agriculture, | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Nevertheless, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== The European Commission Representation in Albania ===== | ||
+ | //21 September, Tirana (Innospace)// | ||
+ | |||
+ | There could hardly be a greater contrast to the meeting with Flori, the self-assured visionary, than the cool sobriety of the representative from the 70-member delegation of the EU Commission in Albania whom we meet afterwards. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Albania applied to join the EU in 2009, achieved candidate status in 2014 and has been negotiating since 2022. There is a 90-97% approval rate among the population; they would even rather join the United States of America, but that would not be possible. Together with other countries of the Western Balkans, the accession process was slow, everything is intertwined and complicated, | ||
+ | |||
+ | EU Commission staff in Albania report to Brussels on the progress of Albania' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Civil Society in Albania ===== | ||
+ | //21 September, Tirana (Innospace)// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | An expert on the NGO scene in Albania tells us: "In democracy, civil society is the channel between the citizens and the government. Both serve the public, whereas the government is elected and the civil society actors derive their legitimacy from the engagement of the citizenry" | ||
+ | Nominally, there are no obstacles for non-governmental organisations in Albania. There are many hundreds of them and there is also a lot of money from donors. The biggest of these would be the EU and countries like Germany, Switzerland, | ||
+ | |||
+ | But: an NGO that does not agree with the government has a very hard time in Albania. It could not make itself visible because the media did not report on it (except negatively). It would be overwhelmed with administrative and licensing procedures and, if that did not help, it would be covered with lawsuits. In Albanian society, moreover, there is no trust in institutions, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Thus, any real movement of civil society in Albania is currently nipped in the bud: From the very beginning, its actors have to make an enormous effort, they are not seen or supported by the citizenry and they have no successes, only obstacles in their way. Nevertheless, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Alba Broika, who tells us this, nevertheless seems unbroken and pugnacious. She impresses our whole travel group very much with this, after we had already admired her clear analyses and descriptions before. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== The Vjosa Campaign ===== | ||
+ | //22 September, Tirana (Innospace)// | ||
+ | |||
+ | On the last day before our departure, we learn about a very successful project from civil society. Olsi Nica from ECO Albania describes to us how it was possible to save the river Vjosa from being transformed from the longest free-flowing river in Europe into another tamed and species-poor body of water by 45 dams. The planned dams would not have produced much electricity. Albania' | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Collection of data. It was proven how great the species richness of the river is and that the construction of the dams is economically unnecessary or even harmful for Albania. | ||
+ | * This data was communicated through many channels in Albania and abroad. | ||
+ | * Many international researchers joined the project. | ||
+ | * There was an accompanying emotional campaign by artists, both from the river basin and Hollywood stars. | ||
+ | * Lobbying of European institutions (Parliament and Commission) on the basis of conservation conventions. This is how the EU accession negotiations became a lever for the Vjosa campaign. | ||
+ | * Court cases. For the first time in the history of Albania, the government was not only accused by a local group, but was also convicted by a court. | ||
+ | * There was media support through extensive press work. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Today, lawyers and a management team are continuing the project. They will make the won " | ||
+ | Along the way, a Europe-wide network of researchers has been established in many cooperative ventures, which will continue to exist. In the meantime, the Albanian state is taking the lead among those who have supposedly always wanted and initiated this wonderful national park. In reality, the government and industry have been forced by civil society to rethink, and therein lies a moment of hope for the people of Albania. Even if it seems to be completely lonely, this role model. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Freedom of the media in Albania ===== | ||
+ | //22 September, Tirana (Innospace)// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Besar Likmeta of BIRN Albania, an NGO specialising in investigative reporting and media monitoring, concludes by painting a bleak picture of the realities in Albania. | ||
+ | |||
+ | There are laws to protect the freedom of the press, but they are not respected. Journalists who become a problem lose their jobs and possibly their families lose theirs too. They receive no effective help from anyone, not even from their colleagues or civil society. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The seemingly diverse media are in reality monopolised by two oligarch families. What is reported is what brings money or otherwise supports the interests of the oligarchs. The booming online media are even worse where they are important. Maybe Meta (Facebook and Instagram) in Dublin checks some net entries for false reports and hate speech - but hardly anyone there speaks Albanian. Even if something Albanian were deleted, it would take far too long. Content from troll factories therefore dominates social media in Albania without hindrance. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The public is not used to a free media; under communism, the media were purely an instrument of propaganda. They are still that way today, but due to inexperience, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Prime Minister Rama threatened a journalist with re-education at a press conference, but that was no scandal in Albania, only outside. If anything, foreign media are not interested in Albania, which is why they cannot counterbalance it. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Although the EU delegations wrote reports on the process of aligning Albanian legislation with EU standards, they did not report on the implementation of these laws. After all, when the government had tried to enact " | ||
+ | |||
+ | But the journalist does not accept the argument that the reform of the judiciary might make the laws more effective in the future. Until a few years ago, people believed that Albania had good journalists but bad structures. People thought they were in a transitional period from a totalitarian state to democracy. But today it is clear that the cancer cells are everywhere and spread. You can't cure the patient in one place and hope that the others will heal later. Society is in transition, not to democracy, but to oligarchy. Even if the European states and governments try to sell it differently. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== A voice in a café ===== | ||
+ | //23 September, Tirana// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | There are many cafés in Tirana, and the way of life and friendliness of the people here is such that I immediately feel comfortable and invited. Doris and I still have some time before we have to go to the airport, and we make a chance acquaintance in a café. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The woman is and remains a civil society, she explains. Since her children were small, the woman has taken them to every demonstration, | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Conclusion: and "the West"? ===== | ||
+ | //23 September, on the return journey// | ||
+ | |||
+ | I saw Fatos Lubonja' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Returning to my initial question, I consider how my idea of the West now relates to Albania: | ||
+ | |||
+ | There is a desire here for the Western subsidiary society, the ideal of rule from below - and a readiness for it. It has become widespread to give up hope for it. Far, but not everywhere. I want to believe, together with some people in Albania, in the possible long-term success of judicial reform. I want to believe that the recipe of the Vjosa campaign can be transferred to other civil society projects. During my visit to Brussels this year, I believe I saw that the EU has a will and a force. A force that Albania can rely on and align itself with. Even though I now understand better how this reliance puts human patience to an over-harsh test. I think we, who have the West as a self-evident possession, should move. We should reach out to the people in the East of the West and take an interest in them. In doing so, we can give them hope, and we can perhaps prevent what many here believe from becoming true: that we ourselves have long since lost the West and that it is only an inert illusion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== An outlook: the Vjosa ===== | ||
+ | //25 September, Mainz// | ||
+ | |||
+ | In many meanders the river winds its way through Albania' | ||
+ | |||
+ | I want to let the Vjosa flow through my painting film "The East of the West". Because it is a proud sign of how the "East of the West" has achieved something wonderful together with the "West of the West". | ||
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+ | {{ : | ||
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