ALBANIA’S plunge into chaos has become Europe’s second great tragedy since the end of the Cold War. And, unlike Bosnia, it has not been unexpected.
The risk is not just to life and safety for its people, but to its neighbours in the southern Balkans. This time there is no excuse for shoulder-shrugging on the grounds that this is merely “Balkan behaviour”. We know that neglect now only stores up worse trouble for the future.
Yet how the European powers should intervene effectively, having acquiesced so long and so complacently in the misrule of President Sali Berisha, presents an even greater dilemma than the case of Bosnia. That crisis at least involved some degree of aggression across national frontiers; this is wholly internal. Yet that does not diminish the need to tackle the problem as inventively as possible – and as urgently.
Last week Albania’s already grim reality became overlaid by stock images of crisis: chinooks with whirring blades, evacuees crouching low, unidentified hostile fire, euphoria when safety was reached … this is the spurious stuff of Saigon 1975. While the evacuation of foreign nationals is important, it is peripheral to the real issues and should not become a substitute for them.
The other set of stock images concerns the nature of the “anarchy” spreading across Albania. The label is correct: the gun law (especially in the south) and the looting need no exaggeration – it is as terrifying as it sounds. The spread of uncontrolled violence to the capital Tirana stepped across a new boundary of lawlessness.
But it may not be entirely random. There were mounting claims that at least some of the arming of civilians in Tirana had been organised by Berisha and his loyalists. And his secret police appear to have staged some operations to destabilise and divide the opposition. Nor, even if anarchy does rule completely, should this become an excuse for turning European backs on the crisis.
Western diplomats are reportedly claiming that “this is eastern Zaire, not Europe”, and muttering about “the folly of getting involved in a chaotic Balkan country”. It would be greater folly to stay uninvolved.
Berisha has continued to be regarded with excessive indulgence until long past his personal point of no return. As late as the middle of last week, the American State Department was romancing about “the positive political steps taken by President Berisha in the past few days”. His new “coalition” government came far too late, after days of stubborn negotiations, while the south fell apart; his ruling party still insisted on controlling the interior ministry.
The promise of parliamentary elections by June under Berisha now appears complete fantasy. The European Union says it is working with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to hammer out a co-ordinated and urgent response to the crisis. Europe does still have considerable economic leverage and must be ready to reward with maximum speed and emphasis a return to peaceful conduct. What is needed urgently is Berisha’s immediate resignation, a new acting administration, and the promise of immediate elections.