Judah: Crisis, hard for Albania

16/06/2011 19:55

Prestigious British journalist of “The Economist”, Tim Judah, is known
for being a cold observer of Balkan developments. He has often brought
embarrassing articles for the politicians of the Balkan region in the
last 20 years.

He kept the same stance even during an interview for Top Channel, where he says plainly that as long that Albania will not be able to hold elections that are acceptable for both parties, it would be normal to see EU diplomats being sick of Albania.

Tim Judah speaks on the Albanian political crisis, after May 8th elections.

Judah – “I can reflect the thoughts of many foreigners that are following the events in Albania. All of us out of Albania are very disappointed. Until 2009, Albania made real progresses, coming out the chaotic years of 1997 and after. Since 2009, things deteriorated, but there were hopes that that status quo could be broken if one party would win elections that would clarify the political panorama. As we all know, this has not happened and the situation has went for the worse. To be sincere with you, I have met many people who do not like speaking about Albania when you mention it to them. They feel disappointed”.

The latest article of Tim Judah for “The Economist” was titled “Why everyone is sick of Albania”, where he quoted a Brussels diplomat. And Judah doesn’t hide that this is not the opinion of one single person, but this is the general climate in the European Commission about Albania.

Judah – “The source to which I have been referred to is a high rank diplomat in the European Commission. Naturally, I will not say his name. But EU diplomats in general have lost their patience with Albania, because they have asked something minimal for a democratic country: free local elections. It is natural that they ask ‘will Albania ever hold proper elections, so that we can start treating other topics, in order to approach to you as a state of the European Union’. Matters like ballot boxes or miscast ballots are just details for the European Union, but when you are in Tirana, this is an important matter. For the EU diplomats in Brussels, all that is important is to hold normal elections”.

But which is the cost that the Albanians will face after the test set by EU for acceptable elections was not realized? Tim Judah says that besides some years that will be wasted, foreign investments in Albania will be directly affected.

“Albania will have to wait two other years, after having wasted the same amount of time. These years that Albania is losing, diminish the credibility of your country. This means that a country without credibility is a country with fewer foreign investments. The lacking of foreign investments means fewer jobs for the Albanians. I would add that this is happening in a very bad moment, seeing the events with your Greek neighbors. How will the Greek crisis be reflected on the hundreds of thousands Albanian emigrants that live there, when they are facing fewer jobs and are returning home? All of these, put together, create bad news for Albania”.

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