Albania’s impact in the region in the Albanian-speaking areas 69 pages, pdf  Download Back

 Albania’s impact in the region in the Albanian-speaking areas

Publisher: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Volume: 69 pages, pdf

Description:

The role of Albania in the region has often been considered as neutral and far from its national interests. Only recently, there has a more focused and articulated approach to the national-wide spaces. In the analysis of different scholars, the regional foreign policy of 1992 to 2013 is seen to have successfully resisted the pressures to intervene in the domestic affairs of the neighbouring countries where its compatriots live.1 Moreover, renowned Albanian diplomats see the official Tirana so much pleased and even obsessed with its constructive, moderating and generating role of peace and stability in the region, as it has overlooked in some cases its national interests.2 Whereas after 2014, the Albanian government is taking some concrete measures to increase its impact on the Albanian speaking region by institutionalizing co-operation and relations with neighbouring countries at the level of a strategic partnership. This new spirit is reflected not only in the priorities and strategic documents of the government, but also in the political and intellectual circles. Protecting national interests and strengthening the role and the impact of Albanian foreign policy in the region is articulated as an important axis that describes vertically all the other axes of the Albanian foreign policy; it is one of the main priorities and it is combining the nationalobjectives and priorities of our engagement in NATO and EU membership.3 In line with the post-2014 Albanian foreign policy, the perception of intellectuals and foreign policy experts towards bilateral relations with neighbouring states has increased also considerably, thus conditioning regional cooperation with protection of national interest.4 According to the study of Centre of Excellence of the Foreign Ministry, which analyses the perceptions of foreign policy professionals, the 'protection of national interest' is an element often mentioned spontaneously by respondents, even when they were not specifically asked by the question.