Pata: The US no longer has a preferential policy for NATO countries, we have been punished by Trump’s decision

Political analyst and editor at the daily newspaper Tema in Tirana, Ilir Pata, told Kosovo Online that the United States no longer has a preferential policy toward NATO countries, given that they too have been punished by the suspension of immigration visas to the US.

“Something new is happening in the world. The US no longer has a preferential policy toward countries like ours, which were described as satellites or allies because they are part of NATO. This includes Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro, as NATO countries that are among the states punished by this presidential decision, which is in some way part of domestic policy. So it depends on how this issue will develop in Congress or before an American court. However, the essence is that Trump’s America no longer has that relationship with NATO ally countries, although there may be some reflections here. Now the relationship is different, a relationship connected to immigration policy. As far as I know the history of the United States, this is not something new,” Pata said.

He added that Albania has a large number of immigrants who work in the US but maintain ties with their country of origin.

“Their connection with the United States is in terms of employment because they are economic immigrants, but their soul and mind remain in Albania. We have such friends and relatives there. This is obviously unacceptable for America, and it has always been that way. However, I do not think that this measure was taken only against Albanians, or against citizens of North Macedonia, a large part of whom are Albanians. Or against citizens of Montenegro, where there are also many Albanians. This concerns a large portion of immigrants in the US, mainly Latin Americans or Mexicans, in a situation that has changed since the arrival of the liberal wave or the American left, which even declared that Americans are guilty of colonization and their own suffering. This increased the number of immigrants who do not feel it is their duty to learn English, culture, history, that is, to integrate,” Pata said.

In his view, the entire concept is more psychological and political.

“Two years ago, the United States established a 10-year visa system with Albania, which was a very important development and was spoken of as the first step of the process called visa liberalization. That is, for Albania to become like Slovenia, like Bulgaria, like Croatia, so that we could travel to the US without visas. However, reality is different. Citizens of Albania, North Macedonia, or Montenegro are a drop of water in the vast ocean of the US, but this is a political decision, which I do not think was made solely personally by Donald Trump. It is true that he is the president and has his team, but this is a decision of the State Department, which through it wants to convey its messages to the Balkans, that ‘we are ushering in a new era’. ‘We are changing the situation, building a new world order’. I think that today we are perhaps not in 1913, but already in 1919, at the Versailles Conference that lasted a long time, two years. I believe we are in such a situation,” the analyst said.

He believes that by leaving Serbia out, the US wanted to send another signal to Belgrade.

“That is an important political signal, especially after events that I would call shocking – the withdrawal of Mr. Kushner, who addressed the Serbs with a great deal of high-level diplomacy: ‘I am withdrawing because you want it to be this way, but I had the goodwill to invest in this country’. This, in addition to the economic aspect, also has political logic,” Pata concluded.