Rights, but also duties

“All Albanians aspire to enter Europe. So the accord of association with the Eu – to which the European Parliament gave its go ahead last Wednesday – is very important for Albania”, declares LUAN OMARI , member of the Academy of Sciences in Tirana, commenting on the accord of stabilization and association which will soon replace that on trade and commercial cooperation, signed in 1992. The provision, mainly aimed at political dialogue, contains (inter alia) measures to boost regional cooperation and create a free-trade zone between Europe and Albania. The accord, recently discussed in the European Parliament, is a step forward in the process of integration. What perception do people in Albania have of the European Union? “All the political parties, both on the right and on the left, supported this provision, and are favourable to every form of rapprochement with the Eu. However, it should be borne in mind that integration brings with it not only rights, but also duties. We need to work hard: the current gulf that separates Albania from other European countries is inadmissible, and we need to stamp out some ills that afflict contemporary Albanian society, such as corruption, organized crime and drug trafficking. Energetic measures and serious commitment by government and parliament are needed. A lot has been achieved, but much still remains to be done”. Europe is pressing for greater respect for human rights and the protection of minorities… “Here too progress needs to be made. The situation of women in Albania, for example, is still precarious. Not as in the Muslim countries ruled by fundamentalists: here their rights are formally recognized in the legislation, and in legal terms men and women are equal. Nonetheless, that’s not the case in actual fact: violence against women is still widespread in many Albanian families. Apart from legislative measures, which in some cases are still lacking, what’s needed is a cultural shift in attitude”. At the level of the development of civil society, where do we stand? “Albania is experiencing a revival of civil society, whose role was long limited during the years of Communism. There’s a proliferation of organizations and foundations, in part linked to foreign agencies, which perform sterling work in helping to defend minorities, women, and disadvantaged sections of the population. I would like to recall, in particular, among the many NGOs, ‘Mjaft’, which means ‘Enough’ in English, a youth organization with a challenging name, whose main aim is to denounce the ills of Albanian society, such as corruption”. The country is recovering from years of Communism and state atheism. Where does religious freedom stand today? “After the collapse of the Communist regime, there was an explosion of religious fervour: it’s enough to recall that already in November 1990, when the regime was still in power, changes began to be made to the legislation, re-admitting the principle of religious freedom, while at Scutari the cathedral was re-opened amid thousands of people, both Christians and Muslims, who had flocked to the town for the occasion. Today Albania is a free country, and the Constitution approved in 1998 affirms religious freedom in a clear and categorical way. Everyone is free in practice to profess his/her own faith. In more recent years, however, the initial fervour has been gradually evaporating: the consumer society is playing its part, leading to the secularisation that the whole Western world denounces. The young tend to be indifferent to religious practices, both Christians and, for the most part, Muslims”. What can Europe do for Albania today? “It is important to foster the country’s cultural progress. We have thousands of Albanian students scattered through the countries of Europe; however, a large part of them, after completing their studies, will not return to Albania. Europe ought increasingly to promote these student exchanges, but ought also to ensure that these youngsters, after their studies, return to their homeland. We need to admit, however, that an effort also needs to be made on our part to create favourable and attractive conditions for their return”. And what can Albania do for Europe today? “We are a small country, but we can give an example of peaceful co-existence between different religions. Albania has never experienced wars of religion: it has always been a multi-confessional country. It’s true, there have been, and there still persist, sources of friction, but they have never led to open conflicts. This is an example of tolerance and co-existence that we feel we could propose to Europe today”.