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On Tuesday, it was the turn of NATO to be whipped by Edi Rama, the Premier of Albania, which has decided to shelter about 4000 Afghan refugees and according to official reports more than 450 of them have already arrived. NATO as the most powerful alliance in the world cannot become an entity without a backbone in the eyes of the Afghan people.
“The most powerful military alliance in the world, built to uphold those ideals with the presence of strength and the power of example, cannot become an entity without a backbone in the eyes of the Afghan people and millions of people in other countries who want to live in a free, just and democratic society. All of us, the community of our countries, must give hope, shelter and a new life to all those who trusted us, worked for us and fought for the promise of the future we represented,” Rama said in an article carried by BalkanWeb on Tuesday.
Further on he said that NATO must uphold the values of the North Atlantic Alliance and share among democratic countries. This means not turning the backs on people whose lives are now in danger because they believed in the alliance, according to him.
“When we agreed to shelter Afghan refugees, we did it because we take our obligations to our allies seriously. But more importantly, we did it because of what we are. Just 30 years ago, we were Afghans on the Adriatic coast, desperately trying to escape the “red Taliban” of Tirana. We opened our doors to take refuge, half a million refugees fleeing Serbia’s ethnic cleansing under Slobodan Milosevic during the war in Kosovo,” Rama said.
In addition, the Albanian PM said that Albania is ready to bear its share of the burden that all NATO countries must bear together. “But now I ask: if Albania, the poorest member of the Alliance, can manage its share the burden, which of the other NATO member states cannot? And what political justification can be strong enough to defeat our basic human obligations? There are too many fingers pointing at and not enough raising of the hand for humanity.”
He drew the attention to the fundamental principle of NATO according to which the attack against one member is an attack against all.
Such a principle is under discussion because former US President Donald Trump has questioned it. Apparently, the government head if bringing to the attention of all member countries, particularly to the US, which head the block. / argumentum.al
