[Socialism Today, No. 18, May 1997, p. 15-16]
Berisha’s days are numbered. The mass, armed uprising which began early in March suspended his regime in the air. The president lost control of the South, but the southern rebels, loosely organised by salvation committees, lacked the strength to march on Tirana. There was a deadlock between the regime and the rebel forces, although there is an overwhelming popular demand for Berisha’s removal – and for the return of savings lost when the fraudulent pyramid schemes collapsed in February.
Berisha, who appears to retain the support of some sections of the security forces, has only been able to hold out by conceding governmental power, such as it is. to a coalition headed by Bashkim Fino, one of the Socialist Party leaders. Fino, who claims that the notorious Shik secret police have been disbanded, is promising elections for the end of June. He has reportedly had discussions with rebel leaders in Gjirokaster.
The Socialist Party leaders evidently hope to win a majority in new elections, and form a Socialist Party-dominated coalition. The ex-Stalinists want Berisha out, but they offer no political alternative to his capitalist policies.
The Socialist Party’s tactics are in line with the policies of the Western powers. Berisha has outlived his usefulness to Western capitalism – the regime’s corruption and its repressive policies have provoked a dangerous crisis which threatens the Western powers‘ interests in the southern Balkans. Fearing any renewal of the armed insurgency, the strategists of imperialism are aiming at the removal of Berisha through elections, no doubt hoping for a more stable coalition government under Socialist
Party leadership. The big problem is that the majority of the population are now armed. Germany, Britain, and other European powers hesitated to send troops into the volatile situation following the rising. „It would be sending troops into a vacuum“, said one NATO official (Wall Street Journal, 17 March).
Once the movement subsided, however, the European powers and the US put pressure on the Italian government to take the lead in sending an intervention force. In mid-April, an Italian-led Multinational Protection Force of up to 6,000 troops began to arrive in Albania (with about 2,500 troops from Italy, 1,000 from France, and smaller contingents from Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Romania).
The intervention has been justified by the UN general secretary, Kofi Annan, as „a humanitarian operation to make sure aid gets to the people“. Such a powerful military force, however, is hardly necessary to alleviate limited food shortages. „The crisis in Albania is not primarily a humanitarian one“, stated Mrs Nina Winquist-Galbe, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the main agency delivering food and medicine to Albania. „We consider it a political crisis. There is no famine here. Not a single person is starving. There’s a risk of using humanitarian aid for something else. This could backfire“. Rebel leaders of the Vlore Committee of Public Salvation welcomed the Italian force. At the same time, they warned the European powers not to step beyond the mission to protect aid supplies. ##
While some Albanians may welcome the MPF initially, there is also anger at the role played by Italy. There was outrage at the death of more than 80 people on 28 March, when they were drowned in the Adriatic. A heavily over-loaded motor boat was rammed by an Italian warship, quite deliberately, in the view of most Albanians. Most of the drowned were women and young children.
Grief and anger in Albania was inflamed by the vicious, chauvinistic comments of Irene Pivetti, former speaker of the Italian parliament. The refugees, she proclaimed, „should be thrown back into the sea“. At a rally of about 7,000 in Vlore mourning the dead, a young woman said: „I warn Italian soldiers not to come to Vlore, otherwise they will be killed“.
There is deep-rooted, historic resentment at Italy’s past imperialist occupations of the country. „The Italians have robbed us for centuries“, said one man guarding the Vlore rebel headquarters. Another was critical of the rebel committees for accepting foreign intervention: „Historically, the ruling class of Albania has regularly asked for foreign support from abroad. After they came, they wanted to conquer Albania“.
In the Italian parliament, the left-wing Rifondazione Comunista (PRC – Party of Communist Refoundation) correctly opposed the coalition government’s proposal to send forces to Albania. Prodi could only secure a majority by accepting support from the right-wing Freedom Alliance led by Berlusconi.
Italian capitalism is clearly trying to re-establish its sphere of economic and strategic influence in the southern Balkans. „We are not going into Albania to interfere in that country’s internal affairs or get involved in promoting or protecting partisan interests“, said Prodi. „We are going to distribute aid and help the Albanians to rebuild a normal life for themselves“. (The Independent, 3 April)
Such statements, as always in such circumstances, are entirely disingenuous. Capitalist states always launch such interventions primarily in order to protect their own interests and to further their economic and strategic aims.
Fassino, Prodi’s deputy foreign minister, also admitted that the objectives of the intervention would include providing „assistance to the Albanian government to regain control of flashpoints on its territory and to get state institutions working again“. What Albanian government? In reality, this means working to install a government considered by the Western powers to be reliable and capable of securing a semblance of stability. ‚Regain control of flashpoints‘? This means undermining the power of the rebel forces – and attempting to disarm the people.
This is the real problem for imperialism. Berisha insists that all the salvation committees must disappear before elections can be held, and the population must be disarmed. But there is no way people are going to surrender their arms until there are new elections – and Berisha is removed. Albert Shyti, one of the leaders of the Vlore committee, insists that they could not disarm the people even if they wanted to. „I’m sure the people will give the weapons back after free elections“, he told a journalist (The Guardian, 19 April) but this is far from certain. When the committee announced its policy of support for the humanitarian mission of the Protection Force to a thousand-strong crowd in Vlore’s central square, there was a very cool response.
The Protection Force may try to barter food and medicine for weapons, which might reclaim some weaponry from the poorer, most defenceless sections of the population. This policy is favoured by some of the Albanian liberal bourgeois parties, which are already attempting to swap ‚Bread for Bullets‘. But it is not likely to recover many armaments from warlords and gangsters. Inevitably, there is a high potential for conflict between the Protection Force and various armed sections of the Albanian population.
Even supervision of new elections by the Protection Force can hardly be considered neutral. Just as the West European powers backed Berisha until recently, they will now back their chosen political agents. Currently, they appear to have little option but to rely on the Socialist Party leaders, who are now willing instruments of Western capitalist influence, in collaboration with the smaller parliamentary cliques of liberal bourgeois politicians.
Socialists should totally oppose military intervention by Italy, France and other capitalist powers. Despite its claimed ‚humanitarian‘ aims, the Protection Force is intended to protect the interests of imperialism, not safeguard the interests of the Albanian people.
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