Pata: Trump is sending Wendt as ambassador to Tirana because Albania has become a NATO special forces operations center

Political analyst and editor at the daily Tema in Tirana, Ilir Pata, believes that the nomination of Eric Wendt as US ambassador to Tirana is also linked to the decision for Albania to host a NATO special forces center.

Pata told Kosovo Online that Wendt would not be the first ambassador to Albania with a military background, as before him there was General James Jeffrey.

“The appointment of a Green Berets general, such a figure, by President Donald Trump as ambassador, that is, his decree, is important for two reasons. The first is that this is the first ambassadorial appointment in the Balkans, and the second is that it is an ambassador who does not come from the diplomatic service of the State Department, but is one of those personally chosen by the president. Also, this is the second appointment of a military figure in Albania, and at a very high level. The first case was the appointment of James Jeffrey, a general who, after diplomatic experience in Ankara, came to Tirana as ambassador and led not only negotiations but also many operations from the time of President Bush and the American neoconservatives related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So this is the second time such an appointment has been made in Albania, and today we are almost in the same situation as then. Once again, we see President Trump acting as a neoconservative, while in the Department of Defense there is a secretary who is not as experienced as Donald Rumsfeld, but is an aggressive politician, or a ‘hawk’, as they call him in the US,” Pata said.

He also pointed out that Wendt is an excellent expert on the Middle East.

“President Trump nominated him as ambassador to Qatar, where the largest US bases in the Persian Gulf are located, but he did not receive the necessary votes in the Senate. After that, President Trump, or the US administration apparatus, considered moving him to Tirana for two reasons. Albania, according to a plan that is clear, approved and well defined, has become an operational center for NATO special forces,” Pata said.

Pata believes Wendt is also coming to Tirana to coordinate NATO activities.

“The second reason for his nomination is the following. I think we have almost the same US stance toward NATO as in 2002 and 2003. Today we see a deep division within NATO, that is, between the US and European countries. We forget that this is not happening for the first time. In 2003, Donald Rumsfeld said from Brussels, from NATO headquarters, that NATO was no longer the alliance it once was and that this had to change. According to him, there were countries that were no longer US allies, as well as those that were close allies of America. From then on, the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ began to take shape, and the US, in order to wage the war in Iraq, brought in not only countries like Albania or others, but also states that had nothing to do with the Balkans or Europe, but were simply US allies in that new military, that is, geopolitical undertaking,” he said.

Pata also believes that Wendt’s nomination as US ambassador to Tirana is very much connected to the region as well as to NATO.

“Undoubtedly, this appointment is related to the region and represents a signal. General Eric Wendt is a retired officer returning to diplomatic service. He is a resource of the US system being brought back for an important political mission. We saw this in the case of the appointment of Ambassador Hill in Serbia. Ambassador Hill had ended his diplomatic career and even begun writing memoirs. We know that those who start writing memoirs usually no longer have the opportunity to return to such positions, although even their memoirs must first be approved by US authorities. However, President Joe Biden brought Hill back for a very important and clearly defined mission, to keep Serbia as far as possible from its two key allies, Russia and China. In that sense, the arrival of a general is also linked to the decision for Albania to host a NATO special forces center. Let us not forget that a few days ago in Tirana there was the US ambassador to NATO, who is also considered a Trump ‘hawk’. He said that Albania will turn into a NATO logistical hub in Europe, which means we are talking about clearly defined and seriously prepared plans, not just moves related to day-to-day politics, let alone an election campaign,” Pata concluded.