Rama's personnel from Kosovo: From Gent Cakaj to the new director of security services

Last Friday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama proposed Vlora Hyseni, the former director of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, to President Bajram Begaj as the new director of the Albanian Security Services (SHISH).

"Full confidence in the extraordinary preparation, the experience gained over the years, and the respect that Ms. Hyseni enjoys in the international intelligence community, represent a complete guarantee for the further reform of the Albanian intelligence service," Rama wrote on his Facebook profile.

As reported by the Albanian media, Vlora Hyseni had been the deputy director and director of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency from December 2020 to June 2021. After that, she worked as a security advisor in Prime Minister Rama's office.

Rama's proposal was immediately criticized by the opposition, which asked President Begaj to obtain information from the Kosovo institutions on the reasons for Hyseni's dismissal from office in June 2021.

"The national security of Albania is closely connected with the national security of Kosovo. The SHISH can never be an institution under the personal control of Edi Rama, his personal selection, and without any argument that ensures the independence of the National Intelligence Service and its professional and impartial performance of the mission of protecting national security," the MP of the DPA,  Gazment Bardhi, said in a post on Facebook.

For Sander Lleshaj, former police minister from the SP, who resigned due to an unfortunate incident that happened in December 2020, Prime Minister Rama's proposal deserves recognition, because he believes that the spirit of cooperation with Kosovo should increase.

He said in a guest appearance on TV Panorama that there should be more Albanians from Kosovo in Albanian offices.

"The prime minister deserves recognition for this, the same should happen in Kosovo, there is no shortage of experts, but there must be distribution, the functional side should be followed by the political side," Lleshaj said.

There is not a single piece of information about the biography of Vlora Hyseni, neither official nor unofficial publication. As the media write, she speaks six languages and is considered an exceptional expert with extensive experience in security issues and international relations.

Albanian analyst Ben Andoni says for Kosovo Online that the fact that Hyseni was proposed as the new director of SHISH is nothing new or unusual in Edi Rama's political activity. He reminds that Albania, in Rama's second mandate, had a minister of foreign affairs and education from Kosovo, as well as a deputy minister of culture.

Andoni believes that Rama shows that he is the true leader of all Albanians.

"On the other hand, he shows Kosovo's leaders that he doesn't count on them at all. He does this every time he goes to Kosovo, including the last time he was in Prizren, drawing all the attention to himself with the way he presents himself, often using attractive rhetoric. On the other hand, this appointment seems to confuse the life of Albanians, adding a new trail that the media and analysts will be led on in a few days. Also, the fact that Hyseni was nominated by America cannot be ignored. Rama believes that it will bring a new dimension to the security service's modern spirit," Andoni says and adds that Albania's security services first need funds and only then names.

Let us remind you that Edi Rama once appointed 29-year-old Gent Cakaj from Pristina, a guy with an impressive education, as acting minister for Europe and foreign affairs of Albania, for whom it was his first job.

Cakaj stayed in that position for a year. At the end of 2020, he submitted his resignation stating that one of his successes in his work as a minister was his contribution to the better life of the Albanian minority in Serbia.

Besa Shahini, also from Pristina, an analyst, and as the media stated an excellent expert on European integrations, was the Minister of Education for two years from 2018 to 2020.