FLASH
Shkruar nga Ben Andoni
Therefore, Albanians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians (of the north), Bosniaks and Kosovars know their way. Far from their countries, where our governments leave much to be desired in terms of democracy and fearsome corruption, and where rules and laws and promises flow without being able to solidify.
Albania will host in a few months the Italian camp for immigrants in the northwest of the country, as an implementation of the initiative of Prime Ministers Rama-Meloni and ratified by the respective parliaments. Part of the Albania-Italy agreement, the camp "normally" missed the May 20 deadline, and it is now thought that the entire infrastructure will be prepared by November 10. It would be the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", which, citing the Italian Ministry of Defense, confirmed that the Gjadri camp would likely be opened at the end of 2024. The estimated budget for the construction of centers for the reception, management and holding of immigrants in Shengjin and Gjadër, it was expected to cost 654 million euros, but according to "La Repubblica", the cost risks going up to 1 billion euros for 5 years. Today, that the news about the camp has been forgotten, everyone asks what are the benefits of Albania in this case. It is understood that the Rama government and the actors close to him have mentioned nostalgia for the difficult years of mass Albanian immigration, and even a part of the citizens with Vox Pop have expressed the same. But is it all worth it?
Not far from us, Balkan opinion would suffer a shock when, on the days of the meeting of the Political Committee in Britain, so much inflated in us, but of minor importance for European destinies, Chancellor Scholz undertook a trip to Belgrade. For those who only heard his name and the addition Belgrade, they thought that the conversation would be routine for the integration of official Serbia, which, together with Montenegro, barely managed to close some chapters together, in the membership methodology. But no, the reality was prepared a few days ago, when the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia concluded that the former government of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić had acted unconstitutionally (!) when it withdrew the permits for "Rio Tinto". The truth is that the Anglo-Australian metals and mining entity is working on a sprawling 250-hectare complex to exploit vast mineral deposits in a fertile western Serbia valley. But their interests were met by environmental associations and local groups of the so-called "Jadar" project against President Aleksandar Vucic and his allies in power. However, Vucic's autocracy and the reversal of the decision with the Constitutional Court showed how much energy has already been wasted. And the new government, headed by Vučić's party (SNS) leader Milos Vučević, who was promoted from defense minister to the prime minister's office, wasted no time. Serbia's government has reinstated its space plan to build a multi-billion dollar lithium mine and processing plant.
Chancellor Scholz, who participated in the "critical summit of raw materials" in the Serbian capital, where the memorandum of understanding was signed between the EU and the government of Serbia for a "strategic partnership" on sustainable raw materials, supply chains with batteries and electric vehicles stated that: "This is an important European project", adding that it is necessary for Europe to "remain sovereign in a changing world and not be dependent on others, therefore they must be discovered new sources of raw materials". And, he added: "I'm glad that the decision was made." I admit, this decision required courage, but it was taken at the right moment." Now, he clearly understands why nobody in Brussels will know about Bajska and the austerity measures against Serbia, which are justified in front of Kosovo with a broken voice because the dialogue must continue and that Pristina must fulfill its obligations (!!!).
We made a little history to show in what positions the two main countries of the Balkans are today, waiting behind the doors of Brussels. In one statistic, it is said that lithium, which is used for batteries, will remove to some extent European dependence on China and will enable the production of 1 million eye batteries for electric cars. Vucic promised that the mine could open in 2028, adding that it is expected to produce 58,000 tons of lithium per year, which would be "enough for 17 percent of EV production in Europe - 1.1 million ... approximately." With this measure, Germany anticipates the future, as one of the main producers. Rama's signature on the document for the camp and Vučičević for the batteries with Vučić's blessing means that our countries will benefit at the expense of considerable suffering towards Brussels. Security in Albania, the environment in Serbia will remain a challenge, while membership remains on the calendar, despite the fact that Vucic has given maximum guarantees for the environment, just like Rama for the smooth running of the camps.
Yes on the ground: Migrant camps, the flight of skilled labor, the extraction of lithium are taking place without any benefit of EU membership or the standards of democracy. Serbia and Montenegro, the two vanguard countries of the Western Balkans, have barely closed a few chapters and at this rate it will take another half a century, while Albania and North Macedonia are waiting for the Second Intergovernmental Meeting. Kosovo and Bosnia are still far behind.
From the moment when the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS – Vucic's Party) came to power in Belgrade in 2013, emigration from Serbia has not stopped. Official data from the European Statistics Agency confirm that there was such an exodus from 2013 to 2021, which coincides with the exodus of almost 350,000 citizens of Serbia, i.e. almost the entire city of Novi Sad, who applied and received residence permit in EU countries. This figure does not include those Serbs who reside illegally in EU countries, and according to unofficial estimates, they are still half of them (Demokracia, 2022). Meanwhile, Albania's case is even more bitter: The latest Eurostat data show that from 2013 to 2023, 64,200 Albanians under the age of 18 sought asylum in the countries of the European Union. In absolute value, this figure was the fifth in the world, but, relative to the population, Albania had the second highest rate of asylum seekers under 18 in the EU, with 241 young people per 10,000 inhabitants. Albania leaves behind only Syria, which has 266 asylum requests per 10,000 inhabitants (Monitor, 2024). And, the trend does not know how to stop, while the results of the 2023 Census were painful.
The consequences are understood and come from the failure to fulfill democratic obligations and the missing reforms of our governments, as well as the failure to keep the promise of June 2003, at the Thessaloniki Summit in Greece, when the leaders of the European Union promised the countries of the Western Balkans: "The future of the Balkans is within the European Union". That bright period was left behind, while Croatia, which was integrated almost ten years ago, seems to be a different reality. Europe seems tired of expansion, of the impact that Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic make on it, but also on its tollow, which gave its first crack with the blow of the European Constitution, which was rejected by the French and Dutch voters. As, the promises and methodologies, added to the promises, have tired the public so much that in the next few years, if it continues like this, the region may descend into defiant Eurosceptic quotas.
Therefore, Albanians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians (of the north), Bosniaks and Kosovars know their way. Far from their countries, where our governments leave much to be desired in terms of democracy and fearsome corruption, and where rules and laws and promises flow without being able to solidify. It seems that Bauman's sociological theory explains the liquidity of the modern world, but also the uncertainty of the EU, the theory "Power has slipped from its previous level, retreating from the responsibility of controlling citizens: here is the essence of the crisis of democracy: the reference to coercion is in the debate between democracy and representation, already discussed by Rousseau in the 18th century. We vote for governments and politicians who no longer have the power to act, or to make the right decisions, since the power is elsewhere, above the laws of individual states and free to move as they wish" (Bordoni, 2016).
Albanians are initially tired of their country and the choices they have made, entrusting the country's fate to politicians who have simply gotten rich, like other Balkans, they are seeing that their model of democracy is increasingly taking shape. mold. Time is teaching us that membership, more than a model, remains a kind of hard cost, and the case of Serbia and Albania openly shows this. (Homo Albanicus)
Lini një Përgjigje