Protests, the day after

The former Foreign Minister, Besnik Mustafaj, declared that disappointment is an emotion, but the most important thing is the foundations on which this partnership is based.

“Albania is a sovereign state, member of NATO and the UN, and it is considered a partner country in all United States official declarations. As long as it is considered a partner, its decisions are respected. We had Rama’s involvement in principle, which is not an agreement. I don’t think that the United States of America are a rancorous country”, Mustafaj declared.

But analyst Afrim Krasniqi says: “Things went to a point in which there was a dilemma about the United States-Albania relations. We have a vital interest in the United States relations, the most powerful country in the world and which has supported Albanians in every historic moment. Today they are the country that we need more than anyone else. I think that the relations in the future will not be in this level”, Krasniqi declared.

Mustafaj and Krasniqi criticize the way how the situation was managed until the decision was taken by Prime Minister Rama. Mustafaj says that Albanians should not regret it, thinking that they lost something.

“Albania lost no chance. There’s no analysis that makes me think that Albania has lost any chance, based on my experience. On the contrary, Albania won a chance, because we saw a high rank political class to submit to the people’s opinion. We saw a Prime Minister who was not stubborn, not arrogant. Until the final moment, he was not what he should be. But we had never seen a Prime Minister that knows when to back off”, Mustafaj declared.

“What I can guarantee you, is that if Berisha was the Prime Minister, he would have approved the project on its first day. We had the case of the Uygurs and other military operations. We had the mujahedeens from Iran. But this is a tradition that we should leave behind. We cannot say that the other party has made a mistake and we are allowed to make mistakes too. Albania needs a new governing mentality, a strong political leadership”, Krasniqi declared.

The former Foreign Minister values another novelty that was shown by this situation.

“I was part of that protest and I was happy with the conclusion. I saw the generation of my children, those born after the ‘90s, which gives hope for the maturity of the Albanian public opinion, the reactive capacity based on intelligence, sensitivity and the lack of compromise that this generation has”, Mustafaj declared.

While Mustafaj valued the movement of youth, Krasniqi criticized the opposition for the anti-American spirit that they created.

“They put in dilemma the relations with the main ally. The opposition was not informed because of the opposition, but even because of their inability to understand the political reality and that the reason why protesters where there, was not for returning an old power. They are protesting for new principles and standards that the old power does not represent. If this crisis of the majority is a crisis of luxury, the government has the chance to correct it. The crisis of the opposition is a crisis of identity and this is much deeper”, Krasniqi declared.

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