SUMMARY OF AN ESSAY SENT TO US BY PIRO MISHA, ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ALBANIAN INTELLECTUALS.

THE SYMBOL OF THE RINIA PARK
When, at the beginning of April, the Police started pulling down the 106 illegal buildings near the Rinia park, it was clear to everybody that this was not just an ordinary operation. For most Albanians the illegal buildings in this park, built between 1991 and 1997, were the symbol of the misinterpretation of capitalism and market economy, that is to say, of that distortion which had led them to think of capitalism as a game without many rules, in which the main thing was to get rich as soon as possible, no mattered how.
Moreover that park had become notorious as a centre of crime and drugs where the state had failed to intervene for years by then. In a country like Albania symbols are very important therefore the throwing down of the illegal buildings in the park, on the eve of political elections of 2001 meant that the State was active,wilful to fight law violations and able to carry out operations of this importance.
What is even more important is that such operations, being undertaken recently even in other parts of the country, have the support of the majority of the population.

THE REBIRTH OF ALBANIA
The Albanian society, which only four years ago seemed on the verge of social division, today shows clear signs of renovation. Evidently much remains still to be changed. In any case, one thing is sure, if Albania is today a safer country and is gradually recovering both economically and psychologically, if the State and its institutions are relatively strong, if Albania is a stabilizing factor in the whole region instead of being a destabilizing one (as demonstrated by the recent crisis in Macedonia or the renewal of the diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia) the credit for this goes definitely to Italy too.

THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS WHICH REMAIN
However if the interstate relations today are experiencing one of the best moments there are still many problems and misunderstandings between the two countries starting from the problems of emigration, criminality, etc.

The Albanians, on their part, complain that the image of .Albania in Italy does not correspond to reality. According to them, Albania, even with all the problems it has, is a much more complex country than the clichés that we can have in Italy based on which Albanians are nothing but poor people, stowaways and criminals. The Albanian intellectuals complain that the Italian cultural world and the civil society show a mental closure, that they continue to show little interest in knowing and understanding the reality of a little country on the Adriatic coast. For example, the works of a famous Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare enter Italy through the French boundary, translated into French.

ALBANIA TODAY
In 1991 Albania came out of a long period of isolation. In 1991 there is a sudden opening towards a very rich world. In a certain way the same image that the Albanians had of itself fell apart. There is no doubt that the Albania crisis was political, economical and social, but at the same time it was an identification crisis of the system of values.
The Albanian society is experiencing at the same time a cultural transition and a demographic transformation which depends on an important internal movement of the population from the poor mountains (above all from the boundary with Kosovo) towards the country and the principal cities.
In 1991, 64% of all Albanians lived in the country therefore it is understandable that for ten years the country has been living a process of urbanisation followed by the birth of marginal groups which transform into origins of high social tension, at the same time being principal sources of emigration and criminality. The country is living the transition of identity. In order to understand this phenomenon, Tirana is a good example; its population grew from about 250,000 inhabitants in 1991 to 700,000 nowadays.

PERIOD 1991 – 1997
In the period that goes from 1991-1007 the illusion was created that a jump from primitive communism to a post-capitalist society was being made. Today, in fact, Albania can consider itself not only a product of the experiment of authentic communism but also of the experiment of neo-liberalism which had dramatic consequences in the Albanian contest. The 1997 crisis (following the fall of the financial “Pyramids” which almost caused a civil war n.d.r.) showed how fragile the principles on which they were to build modern society and democratic institutions were. Albania came out of isolation when Yugoslavia started decomposing. Consequently it strongly felt the results of the breaking down of the geopolitical balance in the Balkans, but in particular the destabilising weight of the war in Yugoslavia and the crisis in Kosovo.

Just to say one of the economic consequences of the war in ex-Yugoslavia, the interruption of the last land and railway means of communication which connected Albania to the rest of Europe. As a result the only way remaining was that across Italy. But, without doubt, one of the most serious results of the war in ex-Yugoslavia was the transformation of Albania in a transit for international illegal trading. The war in Yugoslavia caused the interruption of the traditional roads for international illegal dealings which had passed through those lands up until that moment, criminal organisations had to find alternative roads. In fact, even before 1991, 70%-80% of the heroin that had been confiscated by the police in Western Europe passed through the Balkans. From 1994 heroin coming from Turkey started passing more often through Albania.

The international drug and human being pushers understood immediately that the passage through Albania did not present many problems, therefore they immediately found Albanian partners. In fact, Albania is the last stage of illegal dealings involving many States. Crime today is trans-national and as such each country assumes its own responsibility.

IMPORTANT RESULTS AGAINST CRIME
In recent times, in Albania, important steps have been taken in the war against crime with the result of a notable decrease in crime. The truth is that in Albania there is a greater engagement in the war against crime and at the same time the police has become more efficient thanks to international support and in particular to that of the Italian police: but first of all the merit goes to the increase of internal stability and the strengthening of the social context in the country. Among the many insecure factors that favoured the destabilisation and the anarchy before, either they do not exist or are now minimal. At the same time we must say that the poverty and unemployment levels are still worrying. Until the economical growth will not create job positions there will always be people that undertake the road towards the sea in the search for a better destiny. As there will continue to exist a tie between emigration and criminality for the time there will be stowaways. There are no doubts that the major part of those who cross the sea by boat are common people searching for hope, the situation of illegal travellers easily brings them to the road of crime.

COMMON OBJECTIVES
A stabilised Albania, economically developed with consolidated institutions is not only in the interest of Albania but also of Italy. On her road towards European integration, Albania will still need Italy’s help for a long time.
The Albanians would prefer that Albania not be used in the internal Italian political games as has often happened in the past, they ask to close situations for which the left or the right look for alliances with their relative group in Albania, without knowing that in post-communist Albania the right or the left often happens more than ideological reality are instant creatures in a limitation process of the West to find support or legitimacy.

Monument in Tirana

Clock's Tower (1830)

Boulevard Martyr of Nation

Albanian Seaside

Piramid - Hoxha Mausoleum

Italy is Albania’s principal economical-commercial partner and the Albanians would like Italy to undertake long term investments which create job positions and aid in the stability of the country. Today there are 550 Italian companies, an increasing number since 1999. One of the reasons for this limited presence is due to the image of Albania that exists in Italy, an image which the Albanians but also the Italians living in Albania do not share (they judge it to be unrealistic) which does not render the development dynamics which has taken place in the country. This image currently creates a penalizing factor in the relationship between the two countries.

THE NEW ITALIAN ENGAGEMENT
What can be done? An interesting initiative was undertaken by the Italian Embassy in Tirana recently. The initiative, named: “This unknown Albania” has as its objective to establish a dialogue between the intellectual and cultural Albanian world with the institutions and the Italian cultural personalities through the organisation of debates regarding common questions. Unfortunately, till now, Italy has a small engagement in instruction and culture and this creates a great defeat towards becoming closer to Albania. The Institute for Italian Culture is currently more present with important cultural events like the concert season. Just remember that in a country where the majority at least understands Italian, there are Turkish, Greek, American Maltese schools but there is no Italian school.
After all we have said, above all something can be confirmed with certainty: among the thousand and one contradictions and difficulties, Albania seems to be slowly but surely finding the road towards the future and this means that Italian support has not been lost.