The protests in Albania have united people in one thing, in dissatisfaction, even though among them there are people with different motives for protesting. For the Government, these protests are much more challenging than the failed ones of the DP led by Sali Berisha. For Brussels, they are a remark that not all Albanians are feeling the great progress of Albania that is seen from Brussels. One thing must be avoided by both the protesters and the government and its supporters: not to take an example from Serbia
Since people began to rediscover Albania, in the beginning of the nineties of the last century, one thing has remained as an unchanging impression to this day: the contrast. Albania continues to be a country of contrasts for many years. Contrasts of any kind, which for many people today has become an attraction. One can write endlessly about the contrasts in Albania. But this time we will dwell on contrasts in the standard of people. There are people who live better than in Western European countries, but there are also many who barely make it through the month with their income. There can be no ambiguity in the assessment that if everyone in Albania were benefiting from the undoubted progress of the country, so many young people would not have left this country. Today, with great certainty, it can be said that there are more Albanians in Western Europe and the United States of America than in Albania. And it would not be so if they had good conditions in their country. This is an understandable phenomenon, a mass exodus that other nations have seen in the past. For example, there are almost ten times more people of Irish descent living in the US than this country has residents. Today, the situation has changed so much that the Republic of Ireland is the second richest country in the EU in terms of GDP per capita according to purchasing power, right after Luxembourg. So the direction of migration can even be reversed. In Albania it is still the opposite.
The protests that started first with motives to preserve the environment to protect the flamingos, the Vjosa river, the Narta park, Zvërnec have evolved into protests where disgruntled people unite. But they are not unhappy with the same things. Even there are many contradictions in the motives of the people protesting. Some don’t want big projects on the coast because it destroys nature. Others want but to benefit themselves because they claim that they are being done on their lands.
Perhaps the contradictions of the protests are best represented by the attitude of the opposition leader Sali Berisha. He supports the protests in which he is also protested and it is demanded that he be taken to prison. The leader of the opposition also supports the project for which the protesters are protesting, which he also supports.
It is difficult to understand the protests based on the reports of the media in Albania, because it seems that even they or their owners have interests in the topics that are being protested. This has led to the fact that in Albania after many years people are again more interested in the developments in their country than what the foreign media report than the local ones. Again, as before, people are more interested in what the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, AP or New York Times say than the local media. Even the government and the prime minister are more concerned about the reports of foreign media than those of the country. These protests also represent a challenge for the media in Albania. Surprisingly, even in many Kosovo media, there is little interest in these protests, as if they were far away from them.
The protests in Albania have united people in one thing, in dissatisfaction, even though among them there are people with different motives for protesting. For the Government, these protests are much more challenging than the failed ones of the DP led by Sali Berisha. For Brussels, they are a remark that not all Albanians are feeling the great progress of Albania that is seen from Brussels. One thing should be avoided by both the protesters and the government and its supporters: not to take an example from Serbia.
Politicians in power in Serbia for years continue to claim that relations with Albania are “the best ever in history”. It is said in Brussels that the two leaders, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić “want to implement their ideas for the future of the EU integration process” that they presented in a joint editorial in a German newspaper. In the pro-government media in Serbia, there is not much news about the protests in Albania. On the other hand, citizens of Serbia have been coming to Albania on vacation for years, had a good time and did not complain about problems. Meanwhile, in the pro-government media there are more calls not to go to sea in Croatia than in Albania. So, despite the differences regarding the status of Kosovo, there are no problems between Belgrade and Tirana.
Many outside observers have seen similarities in the protests. First, in both cases, the formal organizers are not known. Secondly, various elements have entered among the protesters. In Serbia, among the protesters there are radicals with fascist ideas, supporters of Russia and those who want integration into the EU. Even in Albania, among the protesters there are those who may have motives that are not only related to dissatisfaction with the projects in the country. But it is a mistake to give the protests an image of protests against US President Trump, against Israel or orchestrated by Iran. Although it cannot be denied that among the protesters there may be people who have such motives. Foreign media mention the Trump and his family element to make the reporting interesting and justify why it is worth notifying their followers. The New York Times does not care who owns which palm of land in Zvrnec, but when the son-in-law of the American president is involved in the project, then the interest becomes great. The protesters in Albania should not make the mistake that the students in Serbia did, who were dominated by anti-Western, anti-Albanian forces and who, in terms of nationalism, surpass even Milosevic’s people. This was seen with their “memorandum” on Kosovo as “Serbian land”.
But the government and the media close to it are also wrong when they at all costs want to present the protests as directed from abroad. It was terrible how the media published a photo with a car with Belgrade registration in Zvrnec. This was done with a tendency to accuse the protesters of collaborating with Serbia, precisely with whom Albania has never had better relations in history. This seemed like Vucic’s school of power in Serbia, where Croatia and other EU countries are constantly accused of protests, “that they do not want what is good for Serbia, and that they are jealous because of the great progress that Serbia has”. In Aleksandar Vučić’s media, photos are shown not only of cars but also of buses with plates from Croatia with “evidence” that they are standing in front of the protests. The fact that over 50 thousand citizens of Serbia are working in Croatia with a seasonal work permit proves how great that progress is, especially compared to Croatia, which I resented. You can find cars with license plates from Serbia in Albania as much as you want and using this fact with political motives is simply a manipulation of the authoritarian style that Albania has left behind.
During the speeches given by the protesters in Tirana, it was seen that they do not have the same motive. A mother protests because her two sons have left Albania, seeing no future in their country. The other protests that a family member died in the hospital due to lack of oxygen, the third demands that the injustice done to the Albanians at the London Conference be improved, the fourth demands that the court give him the land that belongs to him, the fifth for the protection of flamingos, the sixth for an equal labor market, the seventh against corruption and so on. They are united around dissatisfaction, albeit with different motives. And this discontent has become too great.
It is fortunate that the reaction of the Police in Albania to the protests was not the same as in Serbia. And this also proves how different these two countries are and that Serbia should never serve as a good example for anyone, least of all for Albania.
