By Andi Bushati
The US Ambassador Yuri Kim has made a flagrant intervention in the conflict of a political organization, so much so that in terms of brutality and arrogance she would be envied by her distant successor Ryerson, who arrived in Albania immediately after the fall of communism.
Since the time of Ryerson, in this country, it has become almost normal for American diplomats to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, even engaging as a party in the race between political forces fighting for power. For the sake of our special history in relations with the United States, as well as for an Albanian mentality, which imposes bowing before empires, be they Ottoman, Russian or Chinese, such a thing is considered by most as normal.
No one has attempted to see this as an injustice, or as a violation of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, which prohibits diplomats accredited in a country from exceeding the limit of their intervention. Even when this famous article became news from Erdogan’s autocratic regime, which forced the ten most important western states to back down from their stances against the imprisonment of Turkish oppositionist Osman Kavala, no one tried to draw a parallel with the symmetrical approach that the ambassadors of these countries should have had with us as well.
But, this time, this long-defiled limit was pushed even further. The American ambassador crossed another line, becoming a party not only in the affairs of a country, but also in the internal strife of a political party like the Democratic Party.
Her request on purpose for the interview on Top Channel, exactly on the day that Sali Berisha would announce the collection of 4200 signatures and 24 hours after the former chief of secret services of President Trump, Grenell, claimed that while in office he had not seen any evidence for the declaration “non grata” with Soros lobbying, was an open support for one group of Democrats, to the detriment of the other.
Here too, at first glance, it seems as if there is no major problem, as long as neither side, not even the damaged one, complained about the violations that American diplomats make of the commitments their country has made internationally. The fixed idea that America is above the law is ingrained in everyone’s minds in Albania.
Therefore, the analysis that needs to be done is not in the moral sense, what are the rights of the ambassador to intervene, but how efficient is the step she takes.
Even in this prism, Yuri Kim’s brutal performance was unnecessary, frivolous and inefficient. If her apparent goal was to take sides in favor of Basha and against Berisha, it must be admitted that her influence in this situation may be close to zero. And not because of the Democratic Party’s faults, but as a result of the attitudes held by the US embassy for a long time.
In the mindset of a DP voter, the US embassy is ingrained as a supporting factor for the Rama regime. When one voter saw the US representatives say that: Saimir Tahiri’s fight against drugs is a success story; That justice reform is progressing without being caught politically by the regime; That the election of members of the Constitutional Court is a step forward, although Venice Commission considered them in violation of the fundamental law of the state; That Rama has the right to go beyond the June 5 agreement with American guarantees; That he justly and legitimately won April 25 and is a legitimate prime minister, so when one hears all this, a Democratic militant finds it hard to believe he is being told the same truth as what he believes. He or she is inclined to accept the honesty of the attack on Berisha, the time and the manner in which it was executed, to the same extent that he or she accepted what was mentioned above.
Therefore in this sense and from a pragmatic point of view, Ambassador Kim’s intervention is completely ineffective. It is a perverted move that exceeds the norms allowed for a diplomat, without succeeding in creating effect. It looks like a careless marching of an elephant in e glass shop, not caring about the damage that leaves behind.
Of course, this lack of intelligent calculation is a consequence of the thoughtless act, disproportionate and not symmetrical in the political arena, which took place with Berisha’s declaration as non grata.
This decision has aroused the surprise and contempt of European diplomats, and has become an object of ridicule for those who see corruption only in a retired leader, while posing every day for pictures with others who have stolen public money, falsifying US state documents, has stalled US diplomats in Tirana. It seems as if they continue to err on and on, in a Sisyphean attempt to correct the initial error. And the worst part is that the more they try, the more they fail. The proof is that thanks to them and to the detriment of most Albanians, the more they are fighting Berisha, the more his support grows within the DP./syri.net
