FLASH
Shkruar nga Skënder Minxhozi
Little Albania and the Albanians have nothing to do with these internal dynamics. They are only guilty of being "aliens", that is, foreigners...
Does Albania have a specific problem with the UK's female home ministers?! Or are the two ladies, namely Suella Braverman and Shabana Mahmood, simply coincidentally two senior officials with identical and targeted attitudes towards the Albanian community in Britain in recent years? Of course, the Albanian government has no problem with two female politicians, as long as Edi Rama has made it a craze to include women in his cabinet.
The issue seems all focused on domestic developments in British politics and for this reason it is also a strained issue as it is one-sided. Home Secretary Mahmood's statement on the return to Albania of 700 Albanian families is not only a strained targeting of an ethnic community, as Prime Minister Rama rightly called it in his reply, but at the same time it is also an excessive underlining of an "Albanian phenomenon" which after the bilateral agreements has practically ceased to be such.
As the British press pointed out yesterday, since 2022 Great Britain has returned 13 thousand Albanian citizens to their country of origin precisely after bilateral agreements between London and Tirana. Not to mention the fact that the size of Albanian immigration to the British Isles is in no way comparable to other ethnic communities from Asia, Africa or other continents.
It doesn't take long to understand that Albania's stand on this issue is related to a scandal that exposed British Prime Minister Starmer very badly during his visit to Tirana in May. The Albanian side rejected London's request to open a reception center for immigrants, following the example of the Italian precedent with Gjadri. Starmer was severely attacked at the time for not being able to convince Prime Minister Rama to accept the same treatment that he had offered Prime Minister Meloni earlier.
On the other hand, this is a classic case of a small, poor country being used in the internal political game of a large country. Labour feels the British public's disapproval of the economy, immigration and the general climate of the post-war period that the country is going through today. They also feel that Nigel Farage's harsh xenophobia and blaming foreigners as the cause of all evil are factors that could remove them from local government in the next local elections in 2026.
Little Albania and the Albanians have nothing to do with these internal dynamics. They are only guilty of being "aliens", that is, foreigners. Thus becoming fat prey for the internal political debate on the British island. While they themselves, that is, the British, repeatedly express their appreciation for us and our internal affairs. So much so that they do not miss an opportunity to teach them lessons about many things that happen here with us.
By the way, another peripheral observation from Tirana, regarding the role of Great Britain on the Albanian scene in recent years. As is known, Great Britain has been out of the European Union since January 31, 2020. However, in this corner of Europe, British diplomats claim to play the same supervisory and guardian role, as in the times when they spoke as EU members. Today, the British embassy or ambassador is found with positions and participation in all the demarches that the foreign diplomatic corps makes in Tirana regarding a wide variety of issues. On justice, corruption, trafficking and crime or even democratic standards in general.
A kind of supreme moral authority, which we have given to the Americans for understandable reasons, we have placed on a silver platter for the Europeans because we are entering their club, but it is not known for what reasons we should continue to grant it to the British. Especially when they continue to use us in their political game as a boat people who should be expelled from their land an hour ago.
Amon mer amon shihni cfare surratesh komandojne. Janë popull shume i perbuzur e nga që ndihen të perdhosur e të poshteruar kujtojne se kane gjetur nje popull që e vene perfund por harrojne qe Shqiptaret janë raca më superiore ne bote e do i hapin telashe vehtes që e kruajne me Shqiptaret. Nuk e di pse ky palloshi yne merret me keto gabele?