Andoni: Relations between Albania and Kosovo do not promise improvement in the near future

Political analyst from Tirana, Ben Andoni, says that relations between Albania and Kosovo do not promise improvement in the near future and that the field of defense is the only area where cooperation has begun based on pragmatic interest.

“Relations between Albania and Kosovo do not promise to reach the level that the people of both countries desire. There was a sign that could be called encouraging, namely the visit of Mr. Edi Rama to Kosovo, who was received with official protocol, and the visit a few hours later by Ms. Elisa Spiropali, the former Albanian foreign minister, who at that time was in office. She expressed the highest appreciation for the relations between the two countries. However, from what we see, we understand that there is a large gap between what politicians say and the reality on the ground,” Andoni told Kosovo Online.

Due to the problematic situation in Kosovo over the past two years, Pristina, as he points out, has not had the opportunity to deal with regulating relations with Albania, while Albania appears somewhat indifferent to events in Kosovo.

“The fact is that Albania and Kosovo do not hold regular joint government meetings and that these have almost been abandoned as a practice, although it was said that such meetings could continue. On the other hand, there is no transparency regarding the large number of agreements between our two countries, memorandums, their progress, what has been achieved, and the problems that may have led to a standstill,” he stated.

Relations are, Andoni observes, better in terms of culture and positive in the social sphere, but much colder on the political side.

“The business climate, both in Albania and in Kosovo, is problematic, and some Kosovo companies have even begun relocating to Albania because it is easier for them to operate in countries with which they share similar political or economic anthropology. It is true that Albanian companies seek the Kosovo market, but both sides are not strong enough to generate economic development and help improve relations between the two countries,” our interlocutor points out.

He also notes that the number of citizens from Kosovo visiting Albania as tourists is declining, as well as the concern of Albanian tour operators about whether that number will remain at last year’s level or decrease even further.

“Without calm and the real functionality of the state of Kosovo, the creation of a mentality of Kosovo statehood, and on the other hand greater seriousness from Tirana, our relations will appear good on the surface but will leave much to be desired. The only interesting element is the relationship in the field of defense. Because of the surprises occurring in the international order, and especially because of the joint agreement between Kosovo, Albania and Croatia, this is the only area in which our two countries have begun to cooperate based on pragmatic interest, in case Kosovo faces problems in the future or if issues that exist in other parts of global geography approach the region,” Andoni said.