Past and present, ancient and modern, young and old, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, north and south, urban and rural, monarchist and socialist: the extremes of Albanian society are vivid, it’s tensions palpable. But Albania is not “another Yugoslavia:” it is more like a tensegrity framework, a stable structure of rigid poles positioned in space – and linked together by flexible cables. The cables are stressed but, barring catastrophe, they will not snap. Albania, this land that is breathtakingly beautiful, but only few Americans can tell Albania from Albany or Alabama, and fewer still would be able to find the country on the map.
Despite it’s spectacular and varied beauty, it’s rich natural resources, and it’s extraordinary tradition of hospitality, Albania has always been the most isolated country in Europe, and from World War II until very recently, one of the most isolated countries on earth. Since 1991, Albania has welcomed foreign visitors but, as the poorest country in Europe, it has attracted relatively few of them. Yet there are many reasons why the outside world should be interested in Albania and concerned for it’s future. Albania is a Balkan country and thus a crossroads of East and West, North and South; it is as rich in history as it is in resources.
When Albania achieved independence, nearly half its population found itself outside its newly drawn borders, in what is now called “the former Yugoslavia.” But Albanians are not Slavs, and the Albanian language is not Slavic. Much has been written about historic “transition” from communism, but Albania’s transition is ignored in most of these accounts. This is probably because Albania’s brand of communism was different from the others, and its society is more difficult for a Westerner to understand, or maybe because people didn’t pay much attention to what happened in a tinny little country in Eastern Europe. (A portrait of High Albania) The legacy of fifty years of Europe’s most draconian communism is the darkest shadow of the past, that ended only in 1991.
(a portrait of high Albania) Writing recent history is always problematic; an objective account of the past fifty years in Albania, where extremes and excesses of the communist regime are recent memory, is probably impossible. But everyone agrees in one thing: Albanian communism was not like the others. It brought this country overwhelming disasters and poverty. Albania’s economy changed drastically in the early 1990 s, as the government moved from a Communist system to a more democratic organization.
Albania emerged from the Communist era as the poorest country in Europe. For the first time Albanians were granted the right to foreign travel. The country still relied on tens of thousands of Albanians who work in Greece, Italy, and Germany and send money home to support their families. (The Albanians) Throughout 1990 thousands of Albanian citizens tried to flee the country through Western embassies. A multinational relief operation arranged for safe evacuation of more than 5000 Albanians, and 20, 000 more sailed illegally to Italy in vessels seized at civilian ports. (Albania a country study) From 1944 to 1991 Albania’s government was under the complete control of the Communist Party.
Power was consolidated in one man, Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania with an iron fist and stifled any dissent. After Hoxha’s death in 1985, Albania began to emerge from its isolation. As Communist rule in Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989, some Albanians demanded extensive reforms. In 1990 the government endorsed the creation of independent political parties. Albanian citizens had few of the guarantees of and fundamental freedoms that have become standard in Western democracies. According to Amnesty International, political prisoners were tortured and beaten by the Sigur imi during investigations, and political detainees lacked adequate legal safeguards during pretrial investigations.
Most investigations into political offenses lasted for several months. Alia’s regime took an important step toward democracy in early May 1990, when it announced its desire to join the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, while at the same time introducing positive changes in its legal system. A prerequisite for membership in the CSCE is the protection of human rights. The United Nations Human Rights Committee had severely criticized Albania for its human rights abuses in 1989, and in May 1990 the secretary general of the United Nations visited Albania and discussed the issue of human rights. The results of these efforts were mixed, but in general the leadership became more tolerant of political dissent. The communist regime faced perhaps its most severe test in early July 1990, when a demonstration by a group of young people in Tiran”e, the nation’s capital, led about 5, 000 to seek refuge in foreign embassies.
(the Albanians) I remember for the first time when the people broke the gates of the foreign countries embassies in Albania. That was the first step for the people to get out of there, but the government told us that all those people who broke those gates will be punished. I still remember the crying of the relatives of those people, they thought that their sons or daughters would be killed, but what they didn’t know was that their sons and daughters were the first ones to brake free from a fifty year old communism, and that a very good future was awaiting them. To defuse the crisis in July 1990, the Central Committee held a plenum, which resulted in significant changes in the leadership of party and state. The conservatives in the leadership were pushed out, and Alia’s position was strengthened. Alia had already called for privatizing retail trade, and many businesses had begun to operate privately.
In a September 1990 speech to representatives of Albania’s major social and political organizations, Alia discussed the July crisis and called for electoral reform. He noted that a proposed electoral law would allow all voting to take place by secret ballot and that every precinct would have at least two candidates. The electors themselves would have the right to propose candidates and anyone could nominate candidates for the assembly. Alia also criticized the bureaucratic ‘routine and tranquility’ of managers and state organizations that were standing in the way of reform. Despite Alia’s efforts to proceed with change on a limited, cautious basis, reform from above threatened to turn into reform from below, largely because of the increasingly vocal demands of Albania’s youth. On December 9, 1990, student demonstrators marched from the Enver Hoxha University at Tiran”e though the streets of the capital shouting slogans and demanding an end to dictatorship.
By December 11, the number of participants had reached almost 3, 000. In an effort to quell the student unrest, which had led to clashes with riot police, Alia met with the students and agreed to take further steps toward democratization. The students informed Alia that they wanted to create an independent political organization of students and youth. Alia’s response was that such an organization had to be registered with the Minis t.