“Albania, at the center of global attention”: Former PS deputy minister challenges Rama, protest achieved what the government failed to with millions of euros in lobbying and propaganda

By Ornela Cuci, former deputy minister of Tourism and Environment

For 23 days now, something has been unfolding in Tirana that I had not seen in a long time. I am not referring to the protest, but to the people. To those communicating with one another, laughing, stopping to greet someone they have not seen in years, and talking about the future, not just about leaving. After a long time, in this city I am seeing citizens who still seem to believe that their voice carries weight. Watching this spirit, I realized that what appears every evening on the boulevard is only a small part of what is really happening. People are not going there simply to protest; they are organizing their lives around it. Today the husband comes, tomorrow the wife.

One stays for a few hours and leaves to take care of the children, while the other replaces them afterward. Some come out after work, others before the workday begins. There are those who stay briefly and return the next day, while others join only for the march. Some wait for the crowd to pass by their apartment building and come out for a few minutes. The protest seems to move in shifts. That is precisely what has convinced me that what we see in the street is only a small fragment of reality. Because the protest is not made up only of the visible crowd. It also includes the people we do not see. They are public administration employees who agree with many of the things being said there, but do not dare come out. Not because they do not want to, but because they know that in this country, a job often depends on obedience, not ability.

They are also the employees of companies that have been seized today, may be seized tomorrow, or have been living for months with uncertainty about what will happen to their jobs. They are their families. They are businesses that remain silent for fear of inspectors at their door. They are professionals who do not speak because someone in company management has made it clear to them that their fate, and that of the company, is tied to this government. They are people who do not protest because they are afraid to do so. The dissatisfaction over what is happening in this country does not disappear just because only one person from a household goes out to protest. It does not disappear in the administration, nor in companies. It simply remains invisible because of fear. And for precisely this reason, the number of participants in the square does not necessarily show the scale of dissatisfaction. In fact, sometimes the opposite happens. In countries where people feel free, dissatisfaction shows itself easily.

In countries where there is fear for one’s job, contract, business or family’s future, dissatisfaction stays hidden. The prime minister has chosen to explain this protest in every possible way except as a consequence of his own governance. In recent days, all kinds of theories have been heard, including the claim that an important part of global geopolitics is being played out in Tirana. That may happen too. Dreams are dreams… There may be an intersection of political, economic or international interests with what is happening. History is full of cases where clashes bigger than the countries themselves have been reflected in local battles. Nevertheless, there is one element that no geopolitical theory can explain: the energy of this protest. Because people can be organized, mobilized and even incited for various reasons. But no one can artificially bring the disappointment of a society onto the boulevard.

No one can forcefully manufacture the sense of injustice, the fatigue, the distrust and the frustration that have built up over the years. These things either exist or they do not. And perhaps precisely because this energy is real, the protest has begun to bring something that goes beyond the boulevard. It has begun to attract attention. Not only in Tirana, but beyond it as well. Not only among those protesting, but also among those who for years have viewed Albania through stories carefully constructed by the state communication machine. Here lies the greatest irony of this story. For more than a decade, this government has spent large amounts of energy, time and money from the state budget to turn Albania into international news. Communication companies have been paid, summits have been organized, promotional campaigns have been produced, media space has been bought, and success stories have been carefully built for use abroad.

For years we have seen the Albania of the facade presented to the world. And that is a good thing, because Albania is a beautiful country and deserves to be promoted. We have seen the Albania of transformation, of the digital miracle and of the stories that were supposed to appear on the front pages of the world’s newspapers. We even saw “Diella” turned into a symbol of the new and modern Albania. Yet none of them achieved what the protest is achieving today. Today Albania is once again on the front pages of the international media. Only this time, not thanks to a communication contract, a lobbying company or a marketing campaign. It is there because thousands of citizens have created a story that cannot be bought and cannot be controlled.

If the prime minister is right and all of global geopolitics is being played out in Tirana today, then it must be admitted that he finally succeeded. The dream of becoming an international headline came true. Only, for the first time in many years, not a single cent from the state budget was paid for this publicity. Citizens paid for it with their time, their persistence, their nights on the boulevard and their courage not to walk away. And that is perhaps why this story is being read everywhere. Oh, how good it is to be Albanian!!!