ALBANIA FACING ANOTHER WAR
AIM TIRANA, 1 APRIL
On March 31, at the closed Rinas Airport, landed at the same time, the European Commissioner for the Refugees, Emma Bonino, the NATO Deputy General Secretary, Mr. Smith and the Foreign Minister of Greece, Papandreou. The purpose of their visit was the assessment of the emergency humanitarian situation created during the last days from the extraordinary influx of kosovars. One day before, the Italian Minister of interior, Ms.Jervolino, visited the northern city of Kukes.
The first humanitarian aid from Italy, Turkey and Greece has entered the country, but according to the press, they are very small compared to the emergency needs. The press, while informing that as of today (March 31) the supply of bread in Kukes can only be sufficient for three days, addressed a very strong criticism to the international community, that is taking a very slow approach in assisting a catastrophic situation in a poor country such as Albania. In the meantime, the Ministry of Information has reported through its official Bulletin of March, 30th, that : the Italian Government has supported the Albanian Government with 15 buses, 5 203 tents, 50 000 mattresses; the Turkish Government has assisted with 41 tons of food and 5 000 boxes of medications and the German Government with 16 ml DM, etc. There are some other promises for assistance, but such thing will take time to reach the destination.
It is now clear for everybody that the Kosovo crisis has been immediately transferred to Albania, in the form of a potential humanitarian catastrophe. Even the specialized organization such as UNHCR, had not been able to predict that within a few days Albania would have been inundated by an ceaseless flow of women, children and old people. The measures for accommodation were taken only for 10-15,000 refugees!. (The Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Milo, in a press conference of two days ago, strongly criticized UNHCR, for not taking into consideration the earlier concerns of Albanian Government, that the number of refugees in Albania would be higher than in FYROM). Now, the figures are changing every hour. Official sources report of more than 100,000 refugees until March 31, 1999. Thousands additional are approaching the Albanian border and many are traveling through the mountains.
The Albanian Government has declared the emergency situation, trying to mobilize the scarce resources available. On Sunday, March 28, the Parliament was called in extraordinary session to analyze the situation, again without the participation of the Democratic Party (the main opposition party), that has been boycotting the parliament during the last six months. The emergency situation so far has been sustained mostly thanks to the extraordinary solidarity of the Albanian people, rather than from the measures of the Government.
On the day the first wave of refugees reached Tirana, in the Palace of Sports - where the refugees were gathered- there were more people from Tirana than refugees. The private TV channels were showing hundreds of citizens from Tirana bringing water and food for the new comers and many others, including retired people, that were taking Kosovars at home. The interviews taken from Kosovars thrown out of their homes are full of terrifying examples of the atrocities committed by Serbians: massive killings, rapes, tortures. Each of them has at least one member of the family being killed or lost. Almost all of them are looking to find their close relatives through announcements transmitted non-stop by all the Radio and TV stations. During all these days, private radio and TV stations have been addressing the Albanian citizens to "give something from their daily life" to share their poverty with their brothers and sisters. Asked to comment on the cordiality and commitment of the Albanian citizens, the famous Albanian writer Ismail Kadare, in an interview given to the State Radio stressed that " this is a testimony that the moral structure of Albanians, although shaken, is still holding strongly".
The same features of cordiality and solidarity can be observed not only in Tirana, but also in other Albanian cities, North and South. The busses full of Kosovars are traveling towards Vlora, Durres, Gjirokaster, Korca, etc. In Gjirokaster there was also organized a ceremony in support of the people from Kosovo and their cause as well as NATO air strikes. The Albanian public opinion was shocked by the news of assassination of the well known kosovar intellectuals, the poet Din Mehmeti, researcher Idriz Ajeti , etc. The Albanian press has paid special attention to these events, considering them a "massacre towards the Albanian brain and intelligence, similar to those committed by Hitler." Although during the last few days the main problem has been the inflow of refugees, the media and the political parties continue to support strongly the NATO air strikes. The Albanian President, Mejdani asked NATO to intervene with ground troops in Kosovo. "This is the only solution to avoide a tragedy", said Mejdani. Analysts in Tirana said that after the last ethnic cleansing and the exodus, the co-oexistence between Albanian and Serbs in Kosovo is impossible. An international protectorate on Kosovo is now not a taboo, but an realistic solution.
The opposition, while criticizing the Government for dealing only (and non efficiently) with the humanitarian issues of the refugees and not putting enough pressure on the future of Kosovo, presents its own option that Albania should support the independence of Kosovo. However, the internal political debate has been softened considerably during these days. Few days ago a joint solidarity manifestation took place in the center of Tirana, with participation of both position and opposition leaders, in support of the Kosovo cause and NATO policy. The opposition also withdrew from their request for new elections in the country, presented two weeks ago. Even the criminality, according to the Ministry of Interior sources, has dropped considerably. Many police forces are engaged in the organization of the transportation of the Kosovar refugees.
However, what is happening today in Albania, can not continue for a long time only with the solidarity of the common people and the humanitarian acts of some businessman that have put to the disposal of the Kosovars, even their own private hotels. The continuously increasing number of the refugees (it can go up to 200,000 -according to the press) and the so far indefinite duration of their stay in Albania, are the preconditions for the economic destabilization in the near future, if other supportive measures will not be taken.
During these days, difficulties in border crossing and the reduced sea traffic have negatively affected the import of goods and consequently the tax and customs income. The Albanian currency, Lek has also lost points vise a vie other currencies. Some prices of products have already gone up. Moreover, the continuation of the situation can cause delays to the implementation of the Government programs for the privatization of the strategic sectors such as banks, telecom, chrome and petroleum, because the foreign investors do not prefer to put their money in a country with high political risk. The government, beside the financial difficulties lacks the experience in dealing with situations of this nature, not to mention the already existing institutional weakness.
Tirana is now facing another war, a very difficult and complex challenge.