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From congratulations on the elections, to statements by Rubio and Christopher Landau, what is the embassy trying to say?
After a long period of silence, the US Embassy in Tirana has resumed speaking, but this time, in a coded manner, through messages that require more reading than listening.
In just 48 hours, three important statements have been published, each with symbolic and substantive weight, which if read in sequence create a new narrative of American policy towards Albania: a silent distancing from power and a pronounced return to the fundamental values that the US has promoted for decades - freedom, functional democracy, and the rule of law.
The first was a “congratulation” that was not a congratulation: The Embassy did not mention Edi Rama after the May 11 elections, but congratulated Albanian citizens for their participation. A refined form of rejection that did not go unnoticed in Tirana. Instead of complimenting the government, for the first time in an electoral process, the US chose to praise only the people – a cold signal to those accustomed to messages of support regardless of the reality on the ground.
Today, the embassy released a statement by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau: " The United States can be a willing partner with considerable political capital. We can work hard; but we will work only with those who are committed to practical realism for their countries. We reject both unacceptable extremes of the desire for extraordinary transformation, on the one hand, or the revision of ancient grievances, on the other. Endless and expansive politics, without historical restraint and humility, becomes an enemy of strategy and constitutional statebuilding. This is not our purpose, our function, or our mission ."
But how should this statement be read? The fact that the embassy is sharing it on social media means that it also applies to Albania.
Landau describes a new US philosophy towards the world: away from empty rhetoric about “extraordinary transformations” and “great renaissances” – towards a partnership based on practical realism and historical humility. He clearly criticizes leaders and governments who believe in “political illusions”, who build facades of reforms, who use the language of progress to mask the lack of real results. In this context, Landau is not only talking about failures in nation-building in the Middle East or the Balkans – he is clearly defining red lines for those who seek alliance with the US, including Albania.
When he says “we will not work with those who are not committed to a practical realism for their countries”, this is a direct response to the Albanian political elite that continues to use the narrative of international success to justify a deteriorating domestic reality. Likewise, the phrase “endless and expansive politics, without historical humility, becomes the enemy of constitutional state-building”, is a clear condemnation of the model of permanent polarization, where politics has turned into war and the state into ‘collateral damage’.
Implicitly, Landau portrays the Albanian model as part of a political culture that the US will no longer support. A system where legal edifices are built, but institutions are seized; where there is talk of fighting corruption, but secret tenders are produced; where names change, but practices remain the same. He demands modesty in claims and responsibility in governance – both unknown to current Albanian politics.
His statement is also a form of distancing from the previous practices of the US itself, where intervention has often been unconditional, supporting local actors with the promise that they would move in line with Western interests. Now, that period is over. The US is no longer a guarantor of governments that talk well but do not act honestly. They will no longer support “distant bureaucrats and rigid activists” who only talk but do not produce anything for the citizen.
Also, this afternoon came the third message. The US Embassy distributed the statement of Secretary Rubio, who announced a new visa policy. Rubio announced that there will be visa bans for anyone who targets American citizens, that is, anyone who intimidates, exerts pressure or “hits” Americans, will be declared “non grata”. The fact that this message was distributed by the Embassy itself, has special weight. The signals are clear: there may be names in Albania that will suffer. /Pamphlet
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