FLASH
Shkruar nga Andi Bushati
He decided to work as an adviser to problematic leaders, often becoming the target of the merciless London press. His connections with Mohamar Gaddafi for the interests of the multinational JP Morgan are already known. Interventions in conflicts of interest are also known when, as an emissary for the Middle East, he favored the conclusion of British Gas contracts in the Gaza Strip...
The President of Kosovo and many citizens of her country have once again expressed their gratitude to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for the irreplaceable role he had, a quarter of a century ago, in ending the genocidal regime of Milosevic against the Albanians. "Kosovo is one of your most successful legacies," said Osmani, the former Labor Prime Minister, praising this "hero of freedom, peace and democracy" during a joint press conference.
Of course, there is no question that Tony Blair played a special role in the liberation of the 25 years that Kosovo is commemorating today. It is enough to read his memoirs published after leaving power, to understand that he served as an even more active impetus than President Clinton to make the decision to bomb the former Yugoslavia by NATO. Also, his insistence that the alliance be prepared for the introduction of ground troops, hastened the end of the war, the signing of the Kumanovo agreement and gave us the Kosovo we have today.
For all these, his figure will be inextricably linked with the history of the new state, as long as it exists. Tony Blair has earned the gratitude of Kosovars and the baptism of dozens of children born at the turn of two centuries with his name.
But, having said that, it must be admitted that the former flag bearer of the third road, who is being honored today in Pristina, cannot be summed up with only one segment of his life, when he served as the prime minister who had a decisive role in the liberation of Kosovo. Like many Western counterparts, from Schröder, Fijon or others, who ended up as lobbyists for Putin, Blair, after retiring from official positions, decided to transform the accumulated political capital into economic capital.
He decided to work as an adviser to problematic leaders, often becoming the target of the merciless London press. His connections with Mohamar Gaddafi for the interests of the multinational JP Morgan are already known. Interventions in conflicts of interest are also known when, as an emissary for the Middle East, he favored the conclusion of British Gas contracts in the Gaza Strip. Many articles in The Guardian and a scathing Channel 4 documentary The Wonderful World of Tony Blair have scrupulously drawn this not-so-bright side of the former prime minister's life.
With this new costume, that of a lobbyist who works for money, Blair also approached Kosovo. He became the adviser to the former minister of propaganda of the Serbian dictator, in the overthrow of which he himself had contributed with bombs. He overcame institutional relations and made friends with Aleksandar Vučić. He agreed to work "without money", but with contracts for his wife, even for Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister who has done more damage to Kosovo than any other by being in constant conflict with all its leaders.
As a result of these lobbyist connections, he went so far as to commit himself to the division of the country that glorified him as a liberator. In 2007-2008, Blair became one of the most vocal propagandists of the territorial exchange solution. John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, has confessed in several interviews that the former British prime minister asked him for this idea, which originated from local leaders.
So the one that Vjosa Osmani presented today in Pristina, as the hero of freedom, democracy and peace, at one point in his career as a lobbyist worked for different solutions, with ethnic walls, against multi-ethnic values and peaceful coexistence. This is the other face of Tony Blair who has turned his past fame into business. Like many protagonists of the glorious history of the late 90s, he became part of a project that could lead to the undoing of the state they had contributed to creating.
Of course, this episode does not detract a hair from the unrepeatable credit that Prime Minister Blair had at that difficult time. This fable, more than for him, is important for us Albanians, who, being infinitely grateful, must also know how to be realistic; that by thanking the great, be it persons or states, we understand together with the feeling of reverence that in this world it is not said that there are eternal friends and eternal alliances.
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