Socialist Party MP Pirro Vengu has reacted to the protests that have been taking place for 22 days, stressing that Albania’s priority should be strengthening the state, not destabilizing it.
Through a lengthy post on social media, Vengu said he is “for a strong Albania alongside the chants for a new Albania,” while listing three elements that, in his view, form the basis of Albanians’ strategic role in Southeastern Europe, one important element being the country’s economic, diplomatic and international strengthening over the past decade.
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“First, Albania’s greatest strategic advantage in the 21st century is that it is surrounded by fellow nationals. In an era when power is measured less and less by territory and more and more by the ability to organize, adapt and act quickly, the Albanian presence in the region is our greatest historical, human and geopolitical capital.
Second, unlike the first century of state-building, in the last decade Albania’s economic, diplomatic and international strengthening is being translated directly into more security, more weight and more opportunities for Albanians throughout the region. It is no longer only Albania that is sustained by the nation. It is also the nation that is strengthened by a stronger, more credible Albania that is closer to the European Union. Third, Albania has exercised its role as the mother state without complexes: sometimes on the front line, sometimes through quiet diplomacy, but always in defense of the national interest and of Albanians wherever they live,” Vengu wrote.
In his reaction, he also praised Albania’s role as the mother state, stressing that the country has defended the interests of Albanians in the region both through direct engagement and through diplomacy.
Referring to the protests, Vengu criticized calls for “revolution,” arguing that destabilizing Tirana does not serve the national interest.
“Therefore, whoever thinks they are serving the nation by chanting ‘revolution’ in Tirana does not understand the scale of the times. Tirana is not simply the capital of Albania. It is the political, economic and diplomatic center of gravity for Albanians in Southeastern Europe,” Vengu wrote.
According to him, the capital represents the political, economic and diplomatic center of Albanians in the region.
“To destabilize it is not a patriotic act. It is a luxury that the Albanian nation cannot afford,” he said.
At the end of his message, the socialist MP called on the protesters not to confuse patriotism with what he described as “tutelage over Albania.”
“P.S. A friendly piece of advice for the revolutionaries with GPS who come down only to Tirana. Do not confuse love for the nation with tutelage over Albania. We know how to criticize our own government ourselves. But we will not let anyone weaken the mother state in the name of patriotism,” he said.
Vengu concluded his reaction by stressing that Albanians have only one strategic center of gravity and that this is “a strong Albania.”
“Because Albanians have two states, are a state-forming nation in North Macedonia and a Europeanizing minority in Montenegro and Serbia. But they have only one strategic center of gravity. And that is a strong Albania.
‘New Albania’ may sound good as a chant. A strong Albania is far more difficult as a task. I choose the task,” the Socialist Party MP said.
