The latest German to return to Albania is not Peter Bayer, the rapporteur for Albania in the Bundestag who visited Albania yesterday! Nor is the Minister of State for European Affairs Krischbaum, who reminded Rama with typical German determination a month ago of the limits regarding the independence of the judiciary. And even less Foreign Minister Wadephool, who in November repeated the same refrain in the middle of Tirana! Let independent justice do its job. A phrase as general in the context of SPAK's activity in the fight against corruption and organized crime, as current if not acute in relation to a more concrete issue: the lifting of Balluk's immunity! And for the sake of truth, the Germans have always spoken, both with their own mouths and with that of Brussels, which influences them so much from the power that comes from their political and economic weight in the EU.
Because Germans are serious, sometimes more than Latinos should be! But they are Germans and as the people say, "German flour is no joke"!
But beyond political folklore, the discussion about the increased German attention to Albania is more than legitimate, since the largest European power after the start of the war in Ukraine has emerged from the pacifist lethargy of the post-World War II. Taking on precisely the responsibility that belongs to it without complexes of the past of the last century, now as a democratic state, an undisputed power of European capitalism and the locomotive of the EU. And in the meantime, the time of Merkel who tried so hard to draw a Western Balkans willing to integrate by turning a blind eye, is over. Now the cards are on the table. The approach of the integration date due to the completion of the chapters can no longer be a process other than benevolent but also a moment of revealing great truths. Concrete commitment of Albania in establishing the rule of law, a free market without corruption and illegal government interference and above all geo-strategic clarity.
Far from Russia and its autocratic practices in governance and real integration into the Western world of united Europe. And in all three of these issues it seems that the Albanian government seems to be stuck in the mud. Precisely the Balluku case has exposed the falsehood of Rama's integrative rhetoric that in terms of concrete actions sabotages every day the establishment of democratic principles in governing practice.
The Germans and the EU seem to be unable to tolerate this contrast any longer. If until yesterday they had their doubts about the democratic facade behind which were hidden clear symptoms of autocracy of the Albanian socialist majority, today the curtain of hypocrisy has fallen. Rama and his followers are using the power of cardboard in parliament to defend a high-ranking political exponent of theirs like Balluku, from the accusations of the Special Prosecution that the Germans themselves have created and supported together with their partners. And this is intolerable for them! And to be honest, they do not even have to tolerate this thing that in Germany and the EU it does not even occur to anyone to do. In the best case, an official suspected of corruption resigns and gives up immunity. While in the worst case, no parliament in Europe turns into a legal or parliamentary shield to protect him from the law. And even less so the European Parliament.
But Rama responded to the continuous German, European and American calls not to violate the independence of the judiciary in the Balluku case either with deliberate ambiguity to create confusion, or as is said, in closed-door SP meetings he spoke with contradictory rhetoric. And if we add here the Porto-Palermo issue that is turning into a Russian and not German hot potato regarding the sabotage of Corridor 8, the situation becomes even more complicated. There was no need for the American Chamber of Commerce to send a public e-mail (!!!) about the serious foul that Edi Rama is causing at the level of Euro-Atlantic security in the Western Balkans. What is violating the vital interests not only of Albania but also of American and European partners. And the president of the American Chamber of Commerce spoke on behalf of all Western friends of Albania who apparently love Albania more than Edi Rama himself. But perhaps the Prime Minister is unable to express this "love for the homeland". But friends are friends because they love you even when you don't love yourself!
This bravery of Rama is not inseparable from the person who has undertaken several harmful actions and decisions at the helm of the economy, energy and infrastructure in the Albanian government of the post-Ahmetaj and Gjiknuri period. The issue of immunity and several Porto Romano from Vlora Airport, Bankers Petrolium to the Roskovec TPP, are a single issue. A security issue not only for Albania but also for Europe itself, so much influenced by Germany, which this time is not an invader but a liberator. And this is precisely where Rama gets confused, who has confused and made a sock on his head the memories of the party leaders he inherited, which he supports on diplomatic pillows from the Middle East to Europe. But apparently he supports it with his mind and heart somewhere else. Where they do not let anyone be free to choose the West, the EU, Germany, or the USA, but rather the protection at all costs of someone who made the "last German" return in a "partisan uniform"!
