Analyst and political scientist Ermal Hasimja has described Sali Berisha's visit to the United States of America as a personal victory for the leader of the Democratic Party, but not a development that, according to him, could decisively change the electorate's perception of the opposition.
Invited to Nisida Tufa's "This Week" show on News24Hasimja said that the issue of Berisha's return to the US has special importance for him personally and for his supporters.
"I think that Berisha's visit to America is a personal victory for him," he said.
However, according to Hasimja, this visit does not address the main problems that have created distrust towards the Democratic Party and the opposition as a whole. He argued that the concerns of Albanians are not predominantly related to Berisha’s status, but to other problems of the opposition, such as lack of credibility, inability to inspire citizens and weaknesses in the organization of structures. “I think that Berisha’s visit to America is a personal victory for him.
I think that as far as I know him, either directly or because of the work I did 20 years ago as his former advisor or because of television, I think more that in the mentality in the mindset in the way this issue of establishing honor in the country works, it is a very important issue for him personally, it is of course also important for Berisha's supporters within the DP, all those who are fanatical supporters of Berisha. Does this matter to the Democratic Party? To tell the truth, I don't think so. That is, it definitely matters, but I don't think that this will be a determining, decisive factor that will change the approach of the electorate towards the Democratic Party. Because if you look at the concerns of Albanians today, the issue of Berisha's non-grata does not come up anywhere, it does not figure anywhere. Even in relation to if you look at the reasons to analyze during all these years, at least the last five years that the non-grata was taken. If you analyze the reasons why people are distrustful of the Democratic Party and the opposition as a whole, but in this specific case especially of the Democratic Party, they have nothing to do with Berisha's non-grata. They have to do with other problems, with the fact that the DP is unable to become credible, inspiring to people, unable to build structures that are mobilized, functional, efficient. In other words, Berisha's visit to the United States does not solve these problems," he said.
Speaking about Albania-US relations, Hasimja said that American interests in Albania are mainly strategic and related to stability, the functioning of democracy, the country's membership in NATO and the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking. According to him, the US does not have an extraordinary economic interest in Albania, but the country is important within the framework of American policy in the region and the Euro-Atlantic alliance. Hasimja also emphasized that the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime has become an important issue for American national security, therefore Albania remains under Washington's attention in this regard.
