Stefan Fule on Twitter

Štefan Füle

European Commissioner for Enlargement

and European Neighbourhood Policy

“Shqipëria tregon “kreativitet”. A është nacionalizmi që e dëgjojmë nga Tirana, vërtet i bazuar në vlera Euroatlantike?”  Štefan Füle on Twitter

“Albania shows “creativity”. Is nationalism coming from Tirana, truly based on Euro-Atlantic values?”  English Translation.

Reading the recent Tweet from Belgrade by Mr. Füle, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, one can neither ignore its revolting sarcasm, nor avoid responding to the core of the position title this diplomat carries after his personal name. Dialectically positioned in time and particular space, the connotation of intense expression with intriguing meanings, are made public with the least or indeed, devoid of any diplomatic attire.

Albania is a country. Albanians are this country’s people. The compound of this country and nation is not new to European history. In fact, this presence is rather ancient. In effort to avoid historical analysis, it is commonly known that currently, Albania endeavours to join European Union, like all other countries in the region.

It is true that the country and its nation need to try harder and progress in the path of building real democratic institutions. It is true that the country and its nation need to work harder to consolidate a stronger economy based on free market and fair competition. It is true that the time needed to achieve successful results is relevant to internal and external factors in political, economic and social categories.

However, a second class treatment, addressing an entire country sarcastically and offensive labelling are not manifestations of a civilised European diplomacy. Albania is not a nationalist country under such specific connotation. On the contrary, Albanians have historically suffered the nationalistic pathos of its own neighbours in lives, torture, genocide and territorial shrinkage. Yet, there is no instance in history of any Albanian offensive ventures, undertaken on nationalistic or any other grounds against any country or people.

On singular cries for election rhetoric in Albania, political individuals may have indeed been noticed to amalgamate the structures of a democratic election campaign with sporadic nonsense. Such practice could be intentional (although it damages the democratic aspirations of the Albanian nation), or it could be based on pure ignorant and incapable political values of the individual.

This being noted, same performance of ignorance and collective labelling from European diplomacy could also damage the peace process and the fragile democratic air spread throughout the Balkans, especially since forcefully ending the Serbian brutalities in Bosnia and Kosova.

Constructive and efficient European diplomacy engages addressed communication through official channels in place, directly with any active actors in particular and grouped, as required. European diplomacy embodies values of established democracies, such as union, prosperity, peace and more. Categorising entire countries into faults and wrongs falls below such values and utterly undermines the mission of the European Commission for Enlargement and Neighbouring Policy.

Euphemistically put, the question about nationalism being based on Euro-Atlantic values, it does sound naive and improper. Needless to mention in this paragraph, nationalism was mostly based in the pages of the Warsaw Pact books. Such pages filled with propaganda of a communist East and the hostile West were hoped to have been torn out and forgotten since with the fall of the Berlin wall, in view of a peaceful future for all regions in Europe. Yet, the nuances scattered on this Tweet do unfortunately colour the old days of your communist membership since during the Cold War in 1980.           

To conclude, in a world citizen capacity, inspired by the Euro-Atlantic humanitarian values against genocide generated by nationalism in the Balkans, hence the UN presence in Bosnia and later the NATO humanitarian intervention in Kosova, I appeal loudly with the voice of every other Albanian and world citizen against nationalism. As per this Tweet; not more than a drunkard’s murmur!

Yours sincerely,

Albert Baja