FLASH
Shkruar nga Diplomatico | Pamfleti.net
The personal clash between the two prime ministers has frozen institutional cooperation and damaged the climate for businesses investing cross-border...
The relations between Edi Rama and Albin Kurti have turned into an open political conflict that is affecting every link in the cooperation between the two states. After promises of economic and customs integration, today the border between Albania and Kosovo has once again become a bureaucratic and political wall.
The heated exchanges between Edi Rama and Albin Kurti are no longer simply personal clashes between two leaders with different personalities. They have become a concrete obstacle to relations between the two Albanian states. Every sector of cooperation, from energy to trade and education, is feeling the effects of this cooling. The most affected is the common economy, which instead of integration has entered a deadlock phase.
In the first years after Kosovo's independence, each Albanian government declared a strategic partnership with Pristina. After 2020, with Albin Kurti coming to power and Edi Rama consolidating his third mandate, the cooperation turned into political rivalry. Rama seeks the role of regional leader, while Kurti does not accept tutelage. The clash has gone from rhetoric to concrete obstacles.
In July 2024, several joint government meetings that were planned to sign economic agreements were suspended. Joint projects in customs, trade and infrastructure have been frozen. Albanian companies operating in Kosovo report payment delays, customs obstacles and a lack of cooperation from Kosovo institutions. The same is happening on the other side of the border, where Kosovo businesses complain of unequal treatment in Albania.
In Tirana, Edi Rama has chosen to pressure Kurti through symbolic projects; from the Port of Durres to the regional conferences of the “Open Balkans”, which Kosovo has categorically rejected. For Kurti, the “Open Balkans” is a substitute for European integration, while for Rama it is a platform for increasing personal influence in the region. This difference in vision has turned into a political gap between the two governments.
Diplomatically, communication between Tirana and Pristina has been reduced to a minimum. Formal meetings are conducted in cold tones, while practical cooperation is almost paralyzed. The relevant ministries work with instructions that are often contradictory. Joint economic councils no longer function. Even joint programs for education, culture and tourism have been suspended or replaced with unilateral initiatives.
This political cold snap has obvious economic consequences. Transport and logistics companies report increased costs due to customs obstacles. Imports and exports between the two countries have decreased by about 12% compared to 2023. Many businesses that invested in the “Albanian common market” are now withdrawing. On both sides of the border, the tensions of a state that does not speak to itself are felt.
But beyond the numbers, Rama and Kurti's cooling is indicative of a deeper political crisis: the lack of a common national project. Albania and Kosovo are two states that speak the same language, but pursue opposite strategies. Rama looks to Belgrade and Brussels for legitimacy, Kurti to citizens and transparency. Both claim to defend the national interest, but the practical result is division.
In this climate, every investor, every businessman, every citizen who crosses the border feels the institutional chill. Cooperation offices are empty, agreements remain on paper, while political energy for unity has turned into arrogance and mutual indifference. Faced with this reality, declarations of “one and indivisible nation” seem like old clichés in an era where politics closes the paths to economy and hope.
In the end, what is happening between Rama and Kurti is not just a political quarrel. It is the collapse of an ideal that should have been stronger than egos: Albanian cooperation on equal grounds. Their cooling is the cooling of the two states. And like any body that loses warmth, it begins to feel paralysis in every cell of it, both on and off the border./ Pamphlet
Edi Rama nuk mund të ngjitet në fronin e liderit rajonal, pasi këtë rol e mbart Vuçiç. Vuçiç publikisht ja lëshoi vëndin e "liderit global Edi Ramës", ndërsa për vete zgjodhi të jetë "lider rajonal". A mos i ndjeri Rugova dhe Sali Berisha 'përputheshin'. Pa demontuar 'shtetin fasad'të Edi Ramës, nuk ka as bashkim kombëtar, as integrim europian, as integrim mes vedi.
Ke të drejtë, fjalë me vend!