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Romano Prodi for Albania: Young people no longer speak our language, a policy oriented towards a privileged relationship with Turkey

Një pjesë nga libri i sapobotuar i ish-kryeministrit italian Romano Prodi “Strana vita, la mia” i shkruar së bashku me Marco Ascione. Prodi flet për ngjarjet e vitit 1997, por edhe duke vënë në dukje se si Italia nuk po e luan më rolin e saj në Shqipëri, të rinjtë nuk flasin më gjuhën italiane dhe politika po afrohet me Turqinë.
Romano Prodi for Albania: Young people no longer speak our language, a policy

By Romano Prodi and Marco Ascione / In foreign policy, Prodi immediately tests relations with the left wing of his coalition. On April 9, 1997, "Rifondazione Comunista" did not vote for the Italian mission in Albania. It is Berlusconi and Fini who make up the missing number of votes.

"We could not stand watching what was happening on the other side of the sea. It was clear. I'm sorry Rifondazione did not understand. There was a precipitation of events. With the collapse of the financial pyramids that enabled Albanians to double the money invested within a few months, the country had fallen into chaos: a civil war with gangs of criminals and citizens walking the armed streets. On the other hand, there were also refugees who massively tried to come to Italy, as in 1991. We reached an initial agreement with Prime Minister Bashkim Fino. "We would patrol the Otranto canal and send financial and humanitarian aid so that Albania could be rebuilt."

A naval blockade achieved with the understanding of the Albanian government. Thus was created that high-risk maritime space, on March 28, 1997, Holy Friday, when the corvette "Sibilla" of the Italian Navy hit the Albanian ferry "Kater i Radës". Balance: 84 confirmed deaths. No representative of the Italian government went to the scene of the tragedy in the hours that passed. "It was clearly a wrong choice." Nanni Moretti, shooting a scene from his film "April" on the coast of Brindisi, commented: "The fact that not a single leader of the left has come to Puglia these days is not a symptom of their political absence, but above all of their human absence, because they are not interested in anything. ”

This is the climate in which Prodi participates in the funerals of the victims in Albania: “They were days of disorientation. In the face of growing controversy and tension, I decided against the opinion of many people, to go to Tirana for funerals. My gesture was welcomed for its sincere meaning, a sign of solidarity between the Italian and Albanian people. I still can not forget the long line of coffin trucks, surrounded by a large crowd. "It was really a shocking ceremony, a common pain that must be remembered not to separate, but to unite the two peoples living on the shores of the same sea."

The United Nations voted Resolution 1101 requested by Italy to establish an international defense force.

"We had to unite the international contingent immediately. The natural interlocutor with whom an agreement had to be reached was France. Just before the Otranto canal tragedy I was in Paris to talk to Chirac. I was accompanied by Flavia because at the same time a concert would be held organized by the wife of the French president for the seventieth anniversary of the great cellist Rostropovich. A great concert in which Jacques arrived late, almost at the end. Laughing, I scolded him for this. He replied with a joke: "Better half an hour of bad music than an hour of good music." At the end of the concert, at one o'clock in the morning, I explained to him that I definitely needed a thousand French soldiers for the operation in Albania. "Three hundred," was the answer. I told him that in this case we would not be able to meet the UN request to really organize an international mission, but I made it clear that we would go to Albania with or without them. He paused for a moment and then replied, "I will send you a message within 8 o'clock." The next morning I received the positive answer for participating in the mission with the number of soldiers according to what we asked. It was a strong signal of cooperation that has characterized the relationship between me and Shirak.

U nisëm: ne, Franca, Turqia, Spanja, Rumania, Austria dhe Danimarka, por nën udhëheqjen italiane. Një mision që u përmbyll me sukses në periudhën e shkurtër mes 13 prillit dhe 12 gushtit. Një operacion paqeje për të cilin edhe sot jam krenar, qoftë edhe për kapacitetet logjistike që Italia tregoi se i kishte. Shiraku komentoi: “Kurrë në jetën time nuk kam parë një mision ushtark që të përfundojë në ditën e parashikuar”.

Shkova disa herë në Shqipëri. Udhëtimi i Vlorës, kryeqytetit të jugut, ishte më kuptimploti. U ulëm me helikopter më 14 prill, mes shqetësimeve të shumta të komandantëve ushtarakë. Sheshi ishte plot me njerëz, shumica ishin të armatosur me kallashnikovë dhe shtinin në ajër. Tension shumë i madh. Teksa ne takoheshim me Këshillin e zonës në pallatin qytetit, Parisi tërhoqi vëmendjen time mbi një kor që vinte nga sheshi dhe dukej se thoshin diçka që na dukej e njohur. U afruam në një ballkon, ndërsa poshtë ishte një turmë shumë e madhe. Bërtisnin në italisht kundër presidentit shqiptar: “Berisha, Berisha, vaff...”. Kështu për një moment, harruam aspektet më të rrezikshme të udhëtimit tonë në Vlorë. Një çast do të ishte i mjaftueshëm për disa agresorë dashakeq të revoltuar kundër Tiranës që të na sulmonin, duke vënë në rrezik misionin tonë të paqes. Na eci mirë.

Shkova në Tiranë menjëherë pikërisht për të folur edhe me Sali Berishën, për të treguar se marrëdhënia ime ishte me të gjithë Shqipërinë dhe jo me një pjesë të saj. Kofi Annan i tha gruas sime se në Vlorë kisha treguar “një guxim prej luani”. Në rastin më të mirë, mund të them që isha disi jo i vetëdijshëm. Respektova rregullin tim: në kontekste të tilla duhet folur me të gjithë lojtarët në fushë, me mazhorancën dhe me opozitën, pa u bërë pjesë e luftës së politikës së brendshme. Për këtë arsye, gjatë fushatës së mëtejshme elektorale, i këshillova ngrohtësisht politikanët italianë që të mos shkonin në Shqipëri për të mbështetur kandidatë të partive të ndryshme.

We planted something good. Tirana did not forget those moments, as we saw with the generous gesture of sending doctors and nurses to the most difficult phase of the Coronavirus. On the contrary, it is Italy that has stopped playing its role in Albania, where now the younger generation does not speak our language and Albanian politics is increasingly oriented towards a privileged relationship with Turkey. "

* Romano Prodi was twice Prime Minister of Italy, in the years 1996-1998 and 2006-2008, as well as President of the European Commission in the period 1999-2004. He is one of the founders of the Italian center-left and one of the most important political figures in Italy. The above part is detached from the new book of memories "Strana vita, la mia", translated into Albanian by Erjon Uka.