POSTPONEMENT’ OF ALBANIA’S MEDIA MUZZLE SHOULDN’T FOOL ANYONE

Champions of free speech in Albania should remain vigilant even after Edi Rama put his draconian media laws on hold – as he may just be waiting for the international community to look the other way.

Opinion

‘Postponement’ of Albania’s Media Muzzle Shouldn’t Fool Anyone

After months of internal wrangling and international pressure, Albania’s Socialist Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has postponed the adoption of media laws that would have muzzled the few online critical voices left.

The postponement had more to do with European Parliament President Sassoli’s visit to Tirana last week than with international and local media watchdog protests against the draconian laws. Many fear it is only a matter of time before the international community looks the other way, and Rama bulldozes the laws through parliament. Rama has repeatedly called critical media outlets “garbage bins,” not hiding his deep distaste, and hinting at what he would like done with them. Many of the largest TV stations and newspapers have fallen in line and now rarely criticize him. Those few journalists that were critical of Rama are now often jobless, or have been forced to move to neighbouring Kosovo.

This is what happened to Adi Krasta, a leading journalist and a host of a number of popular news shows. He was fired from his job and forced to move to Kosovo for speaking out against Rama’s rule.

Un-exposed, a hard-hitting TV talk show that featured Albania’s four leading journalists, was also shut down after criticizing Rama. A number of other TV talk shows, newspapers, and online platforms critical of Rama are under attack from the government. With little legal recourse, these shows are in the process of shutting down.

Rama’s governing Socialist Party has overwhelming control of the government, parliament and judiciary. The opposition walked out of parliament last year over the government’s failure to combat corruption. At the same time, the judiciary is in disarray. The government vetting process, introduced to screen out corrupt judges, is also being used to ensure future judges come from Rama’s pool of cronies. Consequently, Albania is currently without a functioning Constitutional Court, while many local and national courts remain understaffed.

Rama continues to argue that the proposed media laws are necessary to stop the spread of fake news and PEDRO PIZANO AND ALBI CELA | BIRN |

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Photo: Gent Shkullaku/LSA

disinformation. He also argues that the laws comply with international press freedom standards. Local and international media watchdogs disagree. They warn that the laws will serve to protect the government from the few critical media outlets left in the country. The proposed media laws would impose exorbitant fines for not announcing and presenting news in “a genuine, impartial, and objective way,” as interpreted by a government commission. They would range from $900 to $18,000 US. The average monthly wage in Albania is $463. As Rama knows from firsthand experience, it is better to fine and tax critical voices out of existence than beat them up, or have them locked them up in the once infamous Spac Prison. Ironically, in 1997, Rama himself was brutally attacked by a gang of government goons for his critical writings against the then autocratic Prime Minister, Sali Berisha.

Concerned about the likely effect of these laws on freedom of expression in Albania, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, issued three legal reports between July 11 and December 9, 2019, urging Albania to review the laws and implement its recommendations. These include diminishing the fines and curbing the excessive authority of the media commission. Even the EU ambassador to Albania, Luigi Soreca, expressed concern that the laws “may lead to adverse effect[s] on freedom of expression”.

Despite the objections of the OSCE, which ironically Albania currently chairs, parliament approved the laws. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights then cautioned Tirana, noting that several provisions “are indeed not compatible with international and European human rights standards, which protect freedom of expression and freedom of the media”. Michael Gahler and David Lega, representatives for the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, also protested the proposed laws.

In response, President Ilir Meta vetoed the law by decree. Seemingly in support of the President’s veto, the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe, announced on January 20 that it was requesting a review of the media laws. Rama’s government refused to bow to pressure and sent the law back to parliament the very next day, to overrule the President’s veto. In the absence of a Constitutional Court, Rama is free to push through his laws without any roadblocks. “We will dismiss the [veto] decree of the President,” said Taulant Balla, head of the Socialist’s Party parliamentary group on Facebook on January 22.

On January 30, however, the day when parliament was scheduled to pass the laws despite the President’s veto, the Socialist Party voted to postpone a vote on the laws, declaring that it would “postpone the vote until after the Venice Commission issues its opinion”.

International pressure and the ever-present threat of not being invited to join the European Union, led to Rama putting a hold on the law, for now. But, in the absence of critical media outlets in Albania, the international community needs to remain present and vocal against his attempt to silence his critics through unjust laws and bullying of journalists. General elections are scheduled in Albania for June 2021. For these elections to have any chance of being free and fair, a strong, independent, and critical press will be necessary. It is commendable that both the centre-right and Socialist parties of Albania have agreed to stop their government’s draconian push. Freedom of the press has always had strange bedfellows. We will remain vigilant, however. After all, liberty is always one generation away from extinction.

Analysis

As the Kosovo state enters a more mature phase, its new leader, Albin Kurti, must not repeat past mistakes – and forge a more equal relationship with Serbia and the world.

Kosovo’s Childhood is Over, Let the Teenage Years Begin

Next Monday marks 12 years since Kosovo declared its fought-for independence from Serbia, and Kosovo’s teenage years begin with high hopes now that Albin Kurti has been elected Prime Minister.

Although a well-known face, Kurti represents a fresh start for Kosovo. Neither he nor his Vetevendosjeparty have ever held power at state level.

He was elected on an agenda that many in Serbia’s mainstream media have dubbed “nationalistic” and “populist.” But in the context of Kosovo’s recent history, this is not only wrong but demeaning to the voters who put his party in first place in the October 6 elections.

Kurti’s “nationalism” must not be given a false equivalence with that of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. This only feeds the narrative Serbia desperately wants to take hold: that all are to be blame for what happened in the 1990s.

But not all “nationalisms” in the Western Balkans are the same. Many of them, at least initially, were a reaction to Serbia’s aggressions and to the four wars it led under Slobodan Milosevic.

In his first address to the Kosovo parliament as Prime Minister, Kurti justly said that his government was “ready to sue Serbia over the genocide and war crimes committed during the Kosovo war”. He also promised “full reciprocity in dealings with Serbia” and announced he was ready to “lead the dialogue.”

Now he leads the government, President Hashim Thaci may finally be restricted to his constitutional duties, which are mainly ceremonial. Thaci has long been seen as the Alpha and Omega of Kosovo politics, especially when it comes to the EU-led dialogue with Serbia. Hopefully, for Kosovo’s sake, that’s about to change.

With the new government, Kosovo has a chance to escape the rule of those who have built up public support on deadly policies and legacies from the 1990s, as is the case with many of its neighbours.

Kurti is rare among the prominent public figures of the Balkans, being someone who suffered during a war, as opposed to being a suspected war criminal or perpetrator, supporter of war, or a random thief.

On the other hand, the new Prime Minister should not make promises that he cannot keep. His new government has a moral obligation to do exactly what it has pledged. If not, Kurti will become another Kosovo MILOS CIRIC | BIRN | BELGRADE

Illustration: Jete Dobranja for Prishtina Insight.

leader that spits in the faces of countless lives, just to score political points, as President Thaci has done. Take Serbia to court for genocide and war crimes against your people, Mr Prime Minister! The process is long overdue.

As I wrote for the tenth anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, for more than 50 years Kosovo’s people have been subjected to systemic racism, discrimination, humiliation and degradation by Serbia, with the silent approval of all the other former Yugoslav republics.

This was followed by a full-blown genocidal campaign organised by Milosevic’s Serbia, which tried to obliterate the whole nation. Had it not been for the NATO campaign in 1999, Kosovo’s population would have been even more decimated than it is today. Generation after generation of Kosovars had to accept their seemingly inevitable fate: to be the subjects of others’ mercy. As we celebrate the 12 th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, let us remember at least two of the many who have willingly and unwillingly died for Kosovo’s independence – 20-year old Asllan Pireva and his 19-year old friend, Naser Hajrizi.

Pireva and Hajziri were students killed by the Serbian police on April 2, 1981, during demonstrations against Serbia’s repressive policies. Kurti was six years old on the day of their death. Sixteen years later, he repeated the same slogan that Hajrizi and Pireva used – “Kosova Republike!” – at another student demonstration against Serbia.

But, despite the horrific hardships brought upon him by Milosevic’s regime – he was imprisoned from 1999 to 2001 and regularly beaten and tortured – Kurti survived. Tens of thousands of Kosovars weren’t so “lucky”. Playing with their tragic fate by raising issues like suing Serbia, and then not following through, would for ever discredit Kurti and undermine his whole agenda.

Thousands of Kosovo Albanians were killed, raped, or forced to leave their homeland and live in exile during the 1990s. Many are still unaccounted for. This includes men, women and children – civilians, who were indiscriminately yet methodically murdered.

We know who did this, Serbia’s death squads, which included the military, police and paramilitary formations. We know who organised this – the Serbian leadership under Milosevic. We know who advocated this – many of Serbia’s current officials, including the current President, Vucic.

We also know who supported this: most of Serbia’s population, who supported Milosevic every step of the way, just as they support Vucic today. At his lowest point, the September 2000 presidential elections, Milosevic still won almost 2 million voters. The responsibility of Serbia’s citizens’ for supporting these deadly policies for decades has to be called out. It is said that Serbs were somehow forced to make these decisions, that they were ill informed, poor and blackmailed – that no responsibility should lie on the collective.

This relativist point of view is shameful. It is hurtful to the victims and their families, including Serbs that suffered during the war. Serbia was never held responsible for the atrocities it committed. That is why Serbian officials and its citizens continue to freely express their racism towards Kosovars.

Serbia’s bullying of Kosovo is perpetuated by Vucic, his media, government, and his opposition. Maybe more significantly, the poison lives on in Serbian schools. It is an inseparable part of Serbian public life, appearing everywhere from culture to sport.

These racist attitudes towards Kosovars are still openly expressed by both the government and citizens. You can see them daily on front pages, in textbooks, in popular culture, and in every single sermon in churches of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Milosevic’s wartime pillar. Because of this, it is no surprise that Kosovo Serbs, also victims of these same policies, continue to cherish this legacy and support Milosevic’s successors.

I once argued that Serbia’s Nazi-like policies towards Kosovo have essentially stayed the same for the last three decades: Kosovo is Serbia’s colony, no crimes have been committed there (except against Serbs), there is no need for remorse, justice, reparation or apology of any kind by Serbia or its people.

In contemporary Serbia, telling the truth about the devastation the Serbian state has inflicted on millions of non-Serbs amounts to anti-Serbian propaganda. Official Serbia’s behaviour remains unchanged, and follows the direction of the Milosevic regime. All Serbs have to fall in line with this fabricated narrative: that Serbs alone are the victims, and that Serbian rights are threatened at all times, in Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, and most recently, in Montenegro. Everybody who says differently is a traitor, a foreign mercenary, an anti-Serb.

All of this is Serbia’s problem, not Kosovo’s. But Kosovo should not aim to make Serbia feel better by forgiving and forgetting its countless victims.

Kurti is right not to cover up the still open wounds by turning a blind eye to what has been done to the people he now leads. On the contrary, Kosovo, as he has suggested, should be on par with Serbia and everyone else. Kosovo is no one’s colony anymore. Kosovo’s declared supporters, particularly the EU and the US, should also accept this and stop humiliating Kosovo with their endless demands, which threaten to trap Kosovo’s people inside a ghetto once again. It is time that the West respected the Republic of Kosovo as it would any other sovereign state – as they respect their own.

Let us remain hopeful that Kosovo’s prolonged and traumatic childhood has finally ended, and that its teenage years are full of righteous angst and persistent growth, and that this leads all of Kosovo’s people towards an open, healed, united and prosperous future. Gëzuar ditën e Pavarësisë Kosovë, dhepaç fat! (Happy Independence Day Kosovo, and good luck!)