The attempt to ignore the United States' messages for Albania

A day after the visit of the Deputy Assistant Secretary in charge of policy towards Western Balkans, Gabriel Ecobar, there has been an attempt to make fun of his statements by both Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta. While Meta does not have the freedom to make any offensive statements towards the US official because of the meeting that they had, Berisha on the other hand is free to say what he wishes, pretending to be “informed” by Ilir Meta regarding the meeting with Mr. Escobar.

In meetings with journalists on Thursday, Berisha tried to appear content with Escobar’s visit, even though he was one of the main issues that brought the US official in Tirana. The illegal financing of Berisha’s party by criminal groups, his attacks against the US Ambassador as well as the fact that his entire electoral campaign is based at challenging the authority of the United States are the main topics in Gabriel Escobar’s agenda.

The United States are not impacted by Berisha’s vile attacks against the Ambassador or even by his violent rhetoric. However, when this is being done to inspire an anti-American sentiment in Albania, then the US officials need to deal with the protagonists of this movement. In the meantime, the United States are not moved by Berisha’s political action and will not change their mind regarding the sanctions that they have imposed on him. The constant attacks against the US are nothing else but a Marxist atavism on Berisha’s end. Millions of people in Islamic and Communist countries vote against the United States, but this does not mean that the US will change their mind about the leaders of such countries.

Sali Berisha is well aware of all this. Ilir Meta is probably even more aware, since he has heard the official stance of the United States in person regarding this issue. Now, the fact that, even though they are aware of it, they still try to relativize the messages of a high US official and furthermore misinterpret his statements, shows a desire to make fun of him and the policy that he represents.

The whole issue became even more obvious noticing Berisha’s insistence not to declare his campaigns finance sources. When asked where the money for his campaign was coming from, he said it was God’s will and that the Democratic Party was being financed by the spirit of winning. The issue is that, when we all realize that there was no spirit of winning, but only a spirit of losing, what will be his answer then? The only potential response would be if Ilir Meta says that he melted the remaining gold that he possessed.