FLASH
Shkruar nga Ylli Pata
However, it is logical to discuss why Mr. Blinken has not put the opposition on the agenda of his meetings in Tirana, where Washington's position on the Albanian opposition is already known.
There is a cynical enthusiasm from the pro-Berisha media for the fact that Lulzim Basha is not part of the agency for Secretary Blinken's visit to Tirana.
Of course, as always in these cases, there have been and will be provincial theses and hypotheses, even proto-provincial, that are not even worth resuming their commentary. As are the theories that in Washington the Republicans love Sali Berisha and the Democrats hate him.
Sali Berisha was received in the Oval Office of the White House, like no other President of Albania, by a democratic President like Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, Sali Berisha and his family were banned from traveling to the USA in 2019, when the White House was headed by a Republican President like Donald Trump, and the State Department was headed by Mike Pompeo, a person close to Trump.
However, it is logical to discuss why Mr. Blinken has not put the opposition on the agenda of his meetings in Tirana, where Washington's position on the Albanian opposition is already known. Two of its most famous names, Lulzim Basha and Jorida Tabaku, have just returned from several important meetings at the State Department, that is, at the American executive, and at Congress; the US legislature.
If you look at the history of the diplomatic agency's visits of important US statesmen to Tirana, politics was not always included in the protocol of the meetings, although in most cases it was.
In the last visit of Secretary Kerry in 2016, John Kerry met with Lulzim Basha and Edi Paloka and Edmond Spaho at the DP Headquarters. It was the time, when the justice reform had just started, it was clear that the Americans wanted the opposition to be included in the process. Then what happened happened.
Even in 2012, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially visited Albania, in the context of the 100th anniversary of the Albanian state, which the USA has recognized and strongly defended from the beginning, she met with the leader of the opposition, Edi Rama, in a special protocol at the Sheraton hotel.
But in 2007, when President George W. Bush visited Tirana, there was no special protocol with the opposition, that is, with the head of the SP, who was Edi Rama, but at the reception of President Alfred Moisiu, he shook hands with the head of the parliamentary group of SP at that time Valentina Leskaj. Meanwhile, when Colin Powell and Madeline Albright visited Tirana, they did not meet with the then opposition leader Sali Berisha.
Anyone who has carefully observed the Albanian politics, understands that the institutional agenda of the visits from the USA also had its symbolism and message in the diplomatic protocol.
It is now clear that the US has supported an opposition from the beginning that, as its officials have often said, "looks at the future and not the past". But the lack of a protoll with Basha does not need a special philosophy. The official PD is actually a pro-Western segment of the Albanian opposition, but its relevance and power in the public arena is not justifiable. All the more so that even though Basha and his people in DP have been endlessly attacked by the pulpit and the anti-Western group in DP, they talk about unification or a vague vocabulary for their consistency.
In all likelihood, if Basha and his party were in battle positions by January 8, 2022, not only would he have met with Blinken, but the message of support would have been even stronger. The USA strongly supported Grida Duma, Ervin Salianji, Gazmend Bardhi and Agron Gjekmarkaj during the period after January 8, but then they all went under the doctor's balcony.
A political stance not only incoherent but a political disloyalty of a spectacular level. All these characters, in all likelihood, no longer have the respect and appreciation as serious politicians with their own attitude.
As for Basha, even though they support him, they seem to tell him: throw it away boy, there is no free lunch...
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