Berisha deserves the main “credit” for the resolution

Sali Berisha’s problems do not always harm Albania. Sometimes, by accident, they help.

That is what happened today. His attack on Ambassador Gonzato, and the aggressive language he used against him, produced a rare united response from all European Union ambassadors in Albania. Instead of weakening Gonzato, Berisha only widened his own isolation. He added the EU to the Anglo-American wall already surrounding him.

A day earlier, the British ambassador had publicly reminded him of the United Kingdom’s non gratadesignation, treating Berisha not as a victim of British politics, but as someone sanctioned by the British justice system. His criticism of the opposition’s blocking tactics was even sharper.

All of this was an unnecessary burden on the opposition. Berisha, who is expected to be re-elected unopposed as its leader in a week, has shown his party what its future looks like under him: isolation from the EU, Britain and the United States.

He created a problem for himself and for the Democratic Party that he could easily have avoided.

At the same time, Berisha has spent the past two weeks spreading tired propaganda about Albania’s IBAR approval process, encouraged by diplomatic sources close to power. Of course a process involving 27 EU member states can face hesitation. In some countries, enlargement creates domestic political problems, and that can slow things down.

But Albania is not facing a fatal blockade. Approval may still come by the end of the month. Berisha seems to have understood this too. Now he appears to be preparing to claim credit for it after his re-election, as if IBAR was approved because he returned as leader of the Democratic Party.

His attacks on the EU, and the international reaction they triggered, have created a mood of despair inside the Democratic Party. They have darkened his re-election so much that it looks more like a funeral than a celebration. For any normal party, a leadership vote should bring energy. In Berisha’s party, it brings isolation.

So there is no need to be surprised by today’s resolution. Nor is there any need to invent conspiracy theories around Gazmend Bardhi, Taulant Balla, Romina Kuka or anyone else. The main credit for the resolution belongs to Berisha himself: to his anti-Western campaign and to his false claim that Albania’s EU path was about to be blocked.

That claim was not true.

Now that Berisha has understood he cannot stop Albania’s integration process, cannot blackmail the EU by attacking its ambassadors, and cannot remove his non grata designation even with money, he has chosen the easiest exit. He will accept the resolution and hope that, if IBAR is approved by the end of the month, someone congratulates him too. Then he can sell that as a greeting for his re-election.

That is all there is to it.

This is the good that Berisha’s troubles have produced for Albania in this case. Not everything that is bad for him is bad for the country. This time, he seems to have understood that the only path left is to pretend he is celebrating Albania’s progress together with everyone else.

Originally published in Albanian as: "Meritën" kryesore për rezolutën e ka Berisha