Author: Gabriella Juliana

Albania and Freedoms

November 20, 2018 / Gabriella Juliana / 4 Comments

Part A: Albania and Basic Human Rights

Albania is a relatively new democracy and one that is currently in the process of reforming itself to be in line with the Copenhagen Criteria. Despite the fact that the country was a communist regime for nearly 45 years, the citizens of Albania have experienced some version of free speech since the 1960s. The concept was called “flete- rufe” and the process by which one could criticize public officials was done so by posting a comment on a town bulletin board. The official had three days to respond to the comment and would face consequences if the critique was removed. Eventually, the dictator Hoxha stripped away these rights that were previously granted as his paranoia about maintaining power increased (Crossan, 2016). The current constitution of Albania grants citizens free speech, press, and assembly and the government generally respects these rights (US Department of State, 2017). Hate speech and propaganda is explicitly prohibited in the constitution. The media in Albania is reportedly influenced and pressured by political parties and business interests but balanced reporting does exist, such as with the Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) (Freedom House, 2018). The Democratic Party is a center right party and its beliefs are extremely polarized against those of the other major party, the Socialist Party. The far-right Albanian National Front Party currently holds no seats in parliament and is therefore not very influential in shaping the politics of the nation.

While denial of the Holocaust is not technically illegal in Albania, there are few reports of anti-Semitic sentiments and hate speech. Albania prides itself on being the only occupied European country to end with a higher Jewish population than it began with. The country has been recognized for its efforts in taking in hundreds of Jewish refugees during WW2 (Mashbaum, 2018). Another reason for the limited incidents around hate speech is that the country has experienced very high ratings of religious tolerance. This is the result of the ban on religion that the country experienced during the communist regime. In addition, throughout the nation’s history there has been extreme religious persecution of its people by various foreign oppressors.

Part B: Russian Engagement in Albania’s Politics

The history between Russia and Albania is ever-changing. During the cold war, the Soviet Union had significant influence in the Balkan region and used Albania to bring materials to communist troops fighting in Greece. Albania did have a good relationship with Yugoslavia but was never fully under the influence of the Soviets. The biggest divide between these two states came after the ideological split between the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union, in which Albania sided with PRC. Yugoslavia and other Eastern European nations remained under complete control by the Soviets and therefore Russia still has more influence in these nations.

Today, Albania (aside from Kosovo) is the most pro-west/ pro- EU nation in the Balkan region. Russia does not want Albania and other Balkan states to integrate into the European project as that would strengthen the continent against them (MacShane, 2018). Albania sees Russia “not as a threat but is worried about disruptive activities for democratic state building in the region” (Gotev, 2018). The Prime Minister Edi Rama is currently in talks with the European Commission about the timeline for Albania’s accession into the European Union. He has been attempting to fast track membership by arguing that Russia is trying to radicalize the country’s Muslim population as a means to disrupt cohesion and therefore the EU needs to step in and defend them before this is possible. Russia does own some online information space in which it promotes its own political and cultural agenda. They also use these sources to promote the right- wing sentiments of a Greater Albania as a means to weaken the trust that the country has in European Integration (Tlis, 2018). During the recent election PM Edi Rama accused the Democratic Party (PD) of using a USA lobbyist group funded by a Russian company to set up a meeting with the party leader and President Trump to show his support for the party, therefore meddling in the election and future of the nation (Semini, 2018).

As a result of the history between the Soviet Union and Albania, Russia does not have as much influence in Albania as it does in other nations of the region and therefore has been relatively unsuccessful in interfering in political affairs within Albania.

Works Cited:

“Albania.” Freedom House. May 04, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/albania.

“Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017.” U.S. Department of State. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/#wrapper.

Crossan, Antonia. “Albania.” Free Speech and Free Press Around the World. April 28, 2016. Accessed November 18, 2018.https://freespeechfreepress.wordpress.com/albania/.

Gotev, Georgi. “We Are Aware of ‘Europeisation Fatigue’, Warns Albanian Minister.” Euractiv.com. April 27, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/albanian-minister-we-are aware-of-the-europeisation-fatigue/.

MacShane, Denis. “Opinion: Why It’s Such a Big Problem for Putin If the Balkan Countries Enter the EU.” The Independent. May 17, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/putin-balkan-countries-eu-join-russia-problem-serbia-albania-a8355866.html.

Mashbaum, Yael. “Jews In Albania.” Yad Vashem. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/general/jews-in-albania.html.

Semini, Llazar. “Albania Opposition Denies Links to Russian Election Meddling.” U.S. News & World Report. March 07, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-03-07/albania-oppositiondenies-links-to-russian-election-meddling.

Tlis, Fatima. “Russian Ambassador’s Claim to Albania: No “Aggressive Plans” – Belied by Actions.” POLYGRAPH.info. June 27, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2018. https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-russia-nato-balkans-albania/29324087.html.

EU Institutions

October 22, 2018 / Gabriella Juliana / 1 Comment

Albania and the Refugee Crisis

For the most part migration in the context of Albania usually refers to emigration of citizens to other nations rather than immigration into the country. Albania regularly sees a positive net migration rate. But recently, Albania has felt the effects of the refugee crisis more so than many other nations in its area. The Balkans have become a popular route for those seeking asylum in Western Europe. “Interception of migrants and refugees in Albania increased by 15 percent in 2017, leading to 1,047 people caught at the border, while asylum requests increased by 27 percent to 309 people” (United Nations, 2017). Albania lacks a coherent policy on migration and has been accepting these refugees but failing to monitor or control their movements. This has caused conflicts within the region, specifically with Montenegro who has tried repeatedly to send back refugees to Albania, despite the fact that there is not proof that they came from Albania. In addition, Italy has been sending some of its migrants to Albania which the EU is upset about, but Italy continues to send them because Albania isn’t turning them away. There has been discussion of establishing migrant centers in various countries in the Balkan region in an effort to reduce the effects of the migrant crisis and “curb new arrivals”. Albania would be one of the nations where these centers would be located but the Prime Minister has rejected this proposal (Sputnik, 2018).

Of the case study countries discussed in the textbook, Albania’s policies on migration seem to most closely resemble that of Germany. Although the volume of refugees that Germany took in greatly surpasses that of Albania, the two countries both share more open borders to migrants than other nations on the continent. That being said, Albania is currently trying to gain membership to the European Union and migration is currently a very polarized topic among EU members. Albania needs to tread carefully before it passes or implements new policies regarding refugees because this could have a profound impact on its status of gaining membership.

Albania and EU Institutions

Albania was granted candidate status by the European Union in 2014. Because the nation is not yet a member, it’s negotiations with the EU revolve mostly around its relations with nations that are in the EU and its accession for membership. The road to membership is still underway and as a result of this status, the country has received more attention from the various institutions within the EU. The European Parliament was supportive, and therefore extremely influential in the visa liberalization process for the citizens of Albania (Likmeta, 2010). This process increases the mobility of Albanians for travel within the Schengen nations of the EU, by allowing them to travel without a visa. The next step in the process toward visa- free travel was approval from the Council which was granted in late 2010. This marked a huge milestone for Albania and its desire to be a part of the integration of Europe.

Another important interaction between Albania and an EU institution came earlier this year at an EU Summit in Sofia (Herszenhorn, 2018). The European Commission recommended the start of membership talks with Albania considering the progress the nation has achieved over the past few years. Each year the Commission publishes a working document to showcase and analyze progress Albania has made toward meeting the Copenhagen criteria. The report also recommends steps for further improvement. According to Herszenhorn, Albania is “under pressure to crack down on organized crime and illegal migrants” and as a result the decision and negotiations on its accession have been postponed for another year so it can make progress on these reforms specifically. The Prime Minister of Albania expressed his frustrations about this statement because he claims that the EU is increasing the number of conditions the country must meet before membership talks are even allowed to begin. At a later summit in Brussels, the General Affairs Council adopted various conclusions on the “EU- Western Balkans stabilization and association process”, which includes Albania. The European Council later responded positively to the progress made by Albania in meeting the established criteria and endorsed the conclusions as a means for beginning negotiations concerning membership in June of 2019.

In terms of specific policies that the European Union focuses on, Albania recently made an agreement with the EU concerning border management. The agreement promotes cooperation between the two parties as a means to control migration patterns in the country. Joint operations will take place. This agreement needs to be ratified by the European Parliament before it takes effect (Huertas Cerdeira, 2018).

Works Cited

Herszenhorn, David M. “5 Takeaways from EU’s Big Balkan Get-together.” POLITICO. May 23, 2018. Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-western-balkans-sofiasummit-takeaways-membership-talks-enlargement/.

Huertas Cerdeira, Verónica. “Border Management: EU Signs Agreement with Albania on European Border and Coast Guard Agency Cooperation.” European Council: Press Release. Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press releases/2018/10/05/border-management-eu-signs-agreement-with-albania-on european-border-and-coast-guard-agency-cooperation/.

Likmeta, Besar. “European Parliament Backs Albania, Bosnia Visa Liberalisation.” Balkan Insight, October 07, 2010. Accessed October 21, 2018. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/european-parliament-backs-albania-bosnia-visa-liberalization.

Sputnik. “Albania Refuses to Host EU Migrant Reception Centers – Prime Minister.” Sputnik International. June 27, 2018. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://sputniknews.com/europe/201806271065818205-albania-migrants-eu-statement/.

United Nations. “Progress Report 2017.” ROGRAMME OF COOPERATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2017-2021, 2017, 1-85. http://www.un.org.al/sites/default/files/GoA-UN Progress_Report-2017_1.pdf.

The Definitions of Europe

September 14, 2018 / Gabriella Juliana / 1 Comment

What is Europe?

Europe is a transcontinental community that is united by its shared ancestry and frequent cultural contact as a result of historical trade, which has created a set of common ideals across the various nations that make up the continent today. Historically, the biggest unifier of these various ethnicities and cultures was the rise of Christianity and the long-lasting power and influence of the church. This institution and its expansive power helped set a standard of common values and ideas and facilitated a common identity. Today its main unifier is financial, and its cooperation is maintained as result of the integration of various economies. There are many other qualities that Europe would prefer to define itself by such as its champion of liberal democracies, regard for human rights, or its role in peacekeeping but it is first and foremost held together by the interconnectedness of its economics. Another important definition of Europe is based on geography. Glencross points out that while the EU generally defines the borders of Europe by its 28 members, other organizations such as the Council of Europe define it differently and include nations which are not necessarily within the traditional border (2014). The traditional European identity is therefore based on the characteristics of EU member nations despite the fact that many countries who are within the continent’s borders are not members. Seemingly, using borders and geography to describe Europe is not the most effective definition. The political definition of Europe is based on the fact that all EU members are liberal democracies who balance each other out to make sure that no member nation is ever more powerful than another (Glencross, 2014). This political definition is supported by the strength both economically and militarily that comes with the integration of these member nations. For many decades’, nations were against the idea of forming a union and the first six were only truly convinced of the benefits after the conclusion of World War I. The integration of these six nations and the later integration of 22 more is thus defined by the shared value that there should never be atrocities inflicted like those in the Great War. Today, even those not in the EU share this same value and show it by entering other alliance treaties such as NATO and the Untied Nations. Therefore, the best definition of Europe is based on the set of shared values used as the standard for maintaining peace.

Albania and the Idea of Europe

To many, European identity is synonymous with that of the European Union. But this is not the case for Albania. Albania is a country that has long sought to become a part of the EU. Many would not consider the identity of Albania to be aligned with that of “traditional Europe” but I think that the country is simply just misunderstood. Despite not being in the EU, Albania proudly showcases its spot in Europe’s shared history and ancestry and highlights the small role it played in the Greek and Roman empires. The territory of Albania also fell under Byzantine rule, which was when it was introduced to Christianity. Albania is very much a product of its history and there are two main reasons why Albania doesn’t seem to fit the bill for the traditional European identity: religion and politics. As a result of its conquering by the Ottoman Empire, many people in Albania converted to Islam. Albania has since been dubbed a Muslim country and although 59% of the population identify as such, there is no official state religion (The World Factbook, 2018). Christianity is the second most practiced religion in the country and Mother Teresa is ethnically Albanian. Despite this, the country continues to promote its secular views as a result of its 50-year dalliance with communism in which its anti-religion campaign suppressed all forms of worship and repurposed most religious institutions into cultural centers. A 2010 Gallup poll reported that religion plays a role in the lives of only 39% of Albanians and ranks Albania the thirteenth least religious country in the world (Wikipedia). As previously mentioned, Albania fell prey to communism after the end of World War II, but before then had attempted to form a democratic government in the late 20’s. The collapse of communism revamped the democratization of the country in 1992. Because of its political structure for the better part of the 20^th century and its location to former Yugoslavia, Albania is seen as just another poor, southeastern European nation. And while Albania has a long way to go in terms of economic growth, their misunderstood identity should not be a restriction to their entry.

Glencross, Andrew. The Politics of European Integration, 22-29. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

“Religion in Albania,” Wikipedia, last modified September 9, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Albania.

“Europe: Albania,” CIA World Factbook, last modified August 16, 2018, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/al.html.