Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TIRANA372
2008-05-09 16:02:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:  

THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MAY 3-9, 2008

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL AL 
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DE RUEHTI #0372/01 1301602
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R 091602Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7079
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000372 

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DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL AL

SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MAY 3-9, 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000372

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL AL

SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MAY 3-9, 2008


1. (U) The following is a weekly report prepared by Embassy
Tirana's local staff to provide political and economic context and
insight into developments in Albania.

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POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
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2. (U) TAKE A STAND AGAINST CORRUPTION: USAID released its annual
survey this week tracking the perception and experience of
corruption by Albanian citizens. The news was unfortunately not
good. According to the survey, 92% of Albanians say corruption is
widespread among public officials, eight points higher than a year
ago. The report shows no progress on bribery indicators. Nearly
70% of people surveyed report paying a bribe for medical treatment.
Nearly 60% have little or no trust in the judicial system. By a
three to one margin, Albanians do not think that judges are
impartial when conducting trials.


3. (U) Ambassador Withers released the results of the report with a
tough-love speech, urging Albanian citizens not to accept corruption
in their daily lives and to actively hold their leaders accountable
for corrupt activities. He called on political elites to show
leadership, including by lifting immunity from criminal
investigation for high level officials. The speech gained wide
attention in the local media and among Albanian leaders. President
Topi basically concurred, saying that institutions should begin by
admitting corruption as a step toward cleaning it up. Opposition
leader Edi Rama released a statement from his Socialist Party even
more strongly endorsing the Ambassador's suggestions. The Prime
Minister's office remained largely silent on the issue, although
both he and Speaker Topalli expressed satisfaction with the speech
at a NATO ambassadors lunch with the Ambassador.


4. (U) MAKE LOVE NOT WAR: Thousands of communist-era bunkers still
litter and disfigure the Albanian landscape, one of the first things
a first-time visitor to Albania notices. Leftovers of a bygone era,
the bunkers cover fields, beaches, playgrounds, and backyards, and
even crop up in cemeteries, a literally concrete legacy of the
paranoid imagination of Albania's communist dictator, Enver Hoxha.
As many as 700,000 to 1 million of these cement and iron monsters
were built between 1950 and Hoxha's death in 1985, designed to repel

the threat of foreign invasion. Over the years, bunkers grew not
only in number but also in size, built in the beginning to shelter
two individuals carrying light weapons, but later to accommodate up
to 15 individuals with heavier weapons.

5. (U) One bunker was built for every four Albanians during the
communist era, while housing remained scarce. Following Albania's
1978 split with communist China, the country was in dire economic
straits and the bunkers became a serious financial burden due to the
large amount of concrete and steel used. Since the fall of
communism in 1991 they have abandoned their military duty to become
a choice venue for lovers' trysts and, in more desperate cases,
homes for internally displaced people. Many have been primitively
dismantled to claim the bunkers' steel bars for resellable scrap
metal. In recent years bunkers in the major urban areas have become
less visible with the continuous transformation of the Albanian
landscape, and these alternative uses have been left aside. One
remaining legacy has been a 2003 movie entitled "Colonel Bunker,"
chronicling the bunkerization of the nation and the psychology of
isolation that it conveyed. As for the enemies that never came,
Albania is already allied with most of them in the democratic era.

6. (U) BAPTISM BY FIRE: When the prototype bunker was finished in
the 1950s, leader Enver Hoxha asked the chief engineer how confident
he was that it could withstand a full assault from a tank. His
answer was "very confident." The Communist Party chair then
insisted that the engineer stand inside his creation while it was
bombarded by a tank. Luckily for him, but sadly for history, the
shell-shocked engineer emerged unscathed and his look-out posts went
into production on a massive scale.

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THIS WEEK IN ARTS AND CULTURE
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7. (U) Earlier this week an exhibition to promote Albanian cultural
heritage opened at the Parliament building. The event was organized
by the Parliamentary Speaker, Jozefina Topalli, in conjunction with
the Center for Albanian Studies, in honor of European Week. The
display includes traditional clothing from the northern and southern
regions of Zadrima, Lunxheria, Laberia. While predominantly red and
black, the Albanian national colors, the costumes also include a
variety of colors and styles that can be found in table covers,
scarves, hairbands, and other decorative items. This is part of an
effort to provide a complete picture of the cultural heritage and
characteristics of regional cultural development in Albania.

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TIRANA 00000372 002 OF 002


THE WEEK AHEAD
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8. CAPSTONE COMES TO ALBANIA: Seventeen generals and admirals will
visit Tirana next week to gain a comprehensive understanding of
issues in Albania by meeting with military and civilian leaders,
NGOs and international organizations. They will be briefed by OSCE,
UNDP, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, and other
major actors and will visit Albania's Rapid Reaction Brigade, which
provides the troops to Iraq. This is an important career
development program for U.S. senior military officers that gives
them insight into foreign policy and foreign relations beyond the
usual military confines. Albania is pleased to welcome the visit.

WITHERS