Albania

G

Relations with Neighbours

From 1944 to 1948 Albania’s foreign policy was characterized by tense relations with Greece and the West and a close alliance with Yugoslavia. Plans, in fact, were under way for its absorption into Yugoslavia.

Following the Soviet-Yugoslav break in 1948, however, Albania aligned with the Soviet Union and subsequently received large-scale assistance from the USSR and other socialist countries. In 1949 it was admitted to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), and in 1955 it became a member of the Warsaw Pact.

In 1954 Hoxha relinquished the premiership to his deputy, Mehmet Shehu, but continued to dominate the country as head of the Albanian Communist Party. Albania’s relations with the Soviet bloc began to deteriorate in the mid- and late 1950s, when Hoxha refused to go along with Moscow’s policies of de-Stalinization, peaceful coexistence with capitalist countries, and rapprochement with Yugoslavia.

H

Alliance with China

Albania’s views on the most important issues affecting the socialist camp were conservative and similar to those of China, and by late 1960 the government had clearly moved towards an alliance with Beijing. In response, the Soviet Union and its East European allies cut off all assistance to Albania. Finally, in December 1961, the Soviet Union broke diplomatic relations with Albania.

China immediately sent in experts to fill the gap created by the withdrawal of Soviet advisers and provided low interest credits for Albania’s five-year plans. This enabled the country to defy the Soviet Union and to proceed with its economic development.

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 caused Albania to reassess its foreign policy in general and its heavy reliance on China in particular. It normalized relations with Greece and Yugoslavia and expanded contacts with many Western and developing world nations.

I

Holding on to Stalinism

China’s foreign policy reorientation in the early 1970s and the subsequent Sino-American rapprochement caused a cooling off in Albanian-Chinese relations. After several public Albanian condemnations of Chinese foreign policy, Beijing cut off all aid to its former Balkan ally in July 1978. Following the break with China, Hoxha’s regime, which kept Stalinism alive longer than any other European country, adopted a strategy of isolationist economic development, maintaining that reliance on foreign assistance compromises a nation’s political independence. However, the late 1970s and early 1980s brought steady improvement in Albania’s relations with Greece, Western European nations, and less-developed countries; nevertheless, the issue of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania (between 200,000 and 400,000 people) remains sensitive. Contacts with Yugoslavia were strained because of what the Albanian government alleged was mistreatment of some 2 million ethnic Albanians in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

J

Albania in the 1980s and 1990s

In December 1981 the government alleged that Premier Shehu had “committed suicide”; he was later denounced as a foreign agent, and his former supporters were purged. Adil Çarçani was named premier in January 1982, and Ramiz Alia replaced Haxhi Lleshi as president in November. Following Hoxha’s death in April 1985, Alia assumed leadership of the Communist Party. Albania responded to the wave of democratization that swept across Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980s by cautiously easing restrictions on religion and foreign travel, legalizing opposition political parties, and broadening contacts with the West; diplomatic relations with the United States were resumed in March 1991 after a 51-year break. After winning Albania’s first free multi-party parliamentary elections, the Communists enacted a new interim charter creating the post of President of the Republic, to which Alia was then elected by the People’s Assembly. The Communist Party, which in June changed its name to the Socialist Party of Albania, clung to power throughout 1991 but was defeated in parliamentary elections in March 1992. In April Alia resigned, and parliament elected Sali Berisha as Albania’s first non-Communist president since World War II. A coalition government was formed, with Aleksander Meksi as prime minister. In May 1992 Albania signed a ten-year cooperation agreement with the European Community (now the EU), and in June agreed to establish a Black Sea economic zone with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Albanian Communist Party was outlawed in July, and the former president Ramiz Alia and 18 former Communist officials were detained in September. Albania continued to be affected by instability in the former Yugoslavia, in 1993, when ethnic Albanians experienced difficulties in Kosovo, Macedonia, and Greece. Fatos Nano was charged in July with corruption during his term as prime minister in 1991, and corruption allegations dominated Albanian politics. Nano was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for misusing government funds and abuse of power and former president Ramiz Alia was imprisoned for nine years for abuse of power.

The economy appeared to show signs of recovery in 1993, after two years of decline. It was reported that Albanian migrant workers remitted about US$500 million annually. Albania joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme in April 1994. In March 1995 a visit by the Greek foreign minister indicated an improvement in relations between the two countries. A law was approved in June that recognized the rights of ethnic minorities, and in July the Court of Appeal ordered the release of former president Ramiz Alia. The Greek president visited the country in March 1996, confirming the improvement in relations. General elections held in two rounds in May and June returned the ruling Democratic Party of Albania to power, after opposition parties had boycotted fresh elections held in disputed constituencies, and Alexander Meksi was re-appointed prime minister in July.

The anger of the majority of the population, who had lost their investments in pyramid selling schemes, erupted into widespread civil unrest in early 1997, and resulted in a serious threat to the stability of the country. In the prosperous south of the country, where losses were larger and more widespread, protest escalated and by early March weapons were seized from the army and police and citizens took control of many cities. A state of emergency was declared and the president demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Meksi. President Berisha was elected for a second five-year term by the People’s Assembly, and in late March was forced to concede to demands for a transitional government and early national elections in June. The threat to the stability of the region was considered serious and in late March the EU agreed to provide US$2.3 million in aid and the UN Security Council reluctantly agreed that a small multinational force should operate for three months, to safeguard the distribution of the humanitarian aid. The multinational force comprising troops from Italy and seven other European nations were deployed in Operation Alba in April. Legislation was passed in May to regulate pyramid investment schemes. President Berisha announced his resignation in late July, and Fatos Nano was invited to form a government by President Mejdani. Operation Alba ended in August, with most of the troops withdrawing, leaving a small number to assist in reorganizing the army and police force.

In response to a new wave of violence and unrest that broke out in January 1998, the ruling Socialist Party of Albania (PSS) placed blame for much of the unrest on the Democratic Party of Albania (PDS) and its leader, the former President Berisha. A Cabinet reshuffle in April by Prime Minister Nano was the subject of dispute with President Mejdani, who initially agreed to only two of the nine ministerial changes. Following the fatal shooting of a popular PDS legislator and close associate of Berisha, and subsequent rioting in mid-September, Prime Minister Nano resigned in late September. President Mejdani immediately invited Pandeli Majko, the general-secretary of the Socialist Party of Albania (PSS), to form a government. In early October Majko, who benefited from having no associations with the former communists, was sworn in, to become, at the age of 30, Europe's youngest prime minister. President Mejdani signed the country's first post-communist constitution in late November, following approval by a referendum.

Many ethnic Albanians in the neighbouring Serbian province of Kosovo were subjected to increasing violence from Serbian irregulars, and special police forces in early 1999. Following the failure in February of peace talks in France, brokered by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the NATO alliance initiated its threatened air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), in late March. The NATO action was followed by further allegations of ethnic cleansing, terror, and genocide being made against the Serbian forces in Kosovo. In late March refugees began crossing the border from Kosovo into Albania. In April international aid was announced and NATO began the deployment of an (initially) 8,000-strong Albania Force (A-For) to help Albania cope with its growing refugee crisis and maintain social stability. The refugee flood slowed down in May, peaking at a total of 444,600. After the FRY's decision to pull its troops out of Kosovo, the border between Albania and Kosovo was reopened on June 15 and the refugees began to return home.

On October 27, 1999, the ruling Socialist Party of Albania endorsed 30-year-old Ilir Meta as successor to Prime Minister Majko, who had resigned one day earlier after losing the party leadership vote. Meta, an economist, vowed to continue the policies of the Majko government, in particular promoting economic growth and pressing for Albania's membership of the EU and NATO. Meta was seen as a compromise candidate, acceptable both to the party's old guard and to Majko, who is part of the party's new generation of political reformers.

K

New Millennium Politics

Albania was approved as a member of the World Trade Organization in July 2000 after five years of negotiation, and in the local elections that autumn, the Socialist Party of Albania (PSS) won most seats, ending the domination of local councils by the opposition Democratic Party. In January 2001 Albania and the FRY re-established diplomatic relations, after they had been broken off during the Kosovo crisis in 1999.

Elections to the People’s Assembly were held in June 2001, in which the ruling PSS won 73 seats against the opposition Democratic Party, which won 52 seats. The remainder were won by a variety of other parties. Meta was re-appointed as prime minister shortly afterwards but experienced in-fighting with his parliamentary colleagues and resigned the following January. He was replaced by the former prime minister, Pandeli Majko, on February 7, 2002. In July, Alfred Spiro Moisiu, a former general and defence minister, was elected president with the support of both the PSS and the Democratic Party. Fatos Nano became prime minister for the fourth time in July, the same month as the return of the former royal family, the Zogs, after exile since the 1930s. Former Queen Geraldine, widow of ex-King Zog, died in October 2002.

Albania’s political goal in the early years of the new millennium was to sign an association accord with the EU; however, in early 2004 the EU insisted that further progress with economic and political reform was required to move the process further forward. In February 2004 the opposition staged demonstrations demanding Nano’s resignation and protesting against alleged government corruption and its perceived failure to improve living standards.

A general election was held in July 2005. The Democratic Party won 56 of the 140 seats, the Socialist Party of Albania 42, the Republican Party 11, the Social Democrat Party 7, and the Socialist Movement for Integration 5. After two months of wrangling and recounts President Moisiu asked Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party to form a new government. In 2006 a Stabilization and Association Agreement was finally signed with the EU following the strengthening of democratic institutions in the country. However, targets were also set for further reform of economic institutions in return for financial assistance from the EU. It is expected that Albania will receive an invitation to join the EU in the next wave of accession countries. In July 2007 the presidential election was won by Bamir Topi, who replaced Moisiu.