Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TIRANA919
2008-12-31 15:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:
Embassy Tirana Weekly Report
how-toVZCZCXRO8037 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTI #0919/01 3661531 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 311531Z DEC 08 FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7729 RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000919
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM KJUS AL
SUBJECT: Embassy Tirana Weekly Report
Energy Superpower or Super Colony?
----------------------------------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000919
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM KJUS AL
SUBJECT: Embassy Tirana Weekly Report
Energy Superpower or Super Colony?
--------------
1. The visit of the Italian PM Berlusconi earlier this month
attracted a lot of attention for good and for bad. During the short
visit both Berlusconi and Prime Minister Berisha hailed the current
bilateral relationship. They agreed on further intensifying
economic ties, particularly energy and agriculture, as well as
increased cooperation in the education, culture and health sectors.
The GOA signed four agreements with Italian companies for
infrastructure projects. Two of them in the energy sector worth US$
2.7 billion represent the largest projects approved in recent years.
One is a degasification plant located in the coastal areas near Fier
and an adjacent undersea gas pipeline wh`Q`pQ`Q Qa`QQQ"q(d$a,g "4 ghnd turbines on the KaraburQb( 0a.a.c4d (f dhe b`i of
Vlore, with a generat)g. "a0a"atq gf 4 0 MG, Almost all of the
electr)c)tx prndtcdd gmeld be exported to Italy.
2. Apart from PM Berisha, wHo giddily boasted that the planned
projects would turn Albania into a regional "energy superpower," the
proposed Italian investments generated little excitement and instead
stirred up controversy. The proposed wind farm on the Karaburuni
peninsula has raised a lot of concern among civil society
representatives because of its environmental effects. The project
is located near a protected national park, and the entire area is
unspoiled due to its complete isolation. The opposition also called
on the government to make the profit and the cost of these large
projects transparent to the Albanian people. On the other hand, PM
Berisha hailed the events and said that these projects are part of a
larger plan to turn Albania into a major energy exporter in the
region. In Mid-December, the GOA signed another large contract
worth US$ 1.4 billion with Austrian and Norwegian companies for the
construction of three hydropower plants in the Devolli River in
southern Albania.
3. While moving yet one step closer to reality, these projects
might still fall within the category of a mirage in the desert, and
are unlikely to happen, at least in the short to mid term. These
announcements were only the latest in a long series of grandiose
planned projects, unveiled by the GOA to much fanfare but then
slowly fading from the headlines as follow-up action never takes
place. It is obvious that due to not-in-my-backyard concerns, the
Italians will have the incentive to move forward faster this time,
and Albania is in desperate need for foreign investments and new
sources of electricity generation. However, there is also growing
public dissent against these projects, which in the public mind turn
Albania less into a superpower and more into a colony of its
neighbors.
A Room of One's Own
--------------
4. A generally overlooked aspect of the new electoral code is a
quota system for women candidates, aimed at improving women's
participation in politics and representation in parliament.
Unfortunately, this quota system is more band-aid than cure and
tends to underestimate the level of independence women ought to
experience in their private sphere in order to be successful in
their political undertakings.
5. In a patriarchal society such as Albania, women are relegated to
the household or the private sphere, where there is little room for
their own self, while men to the public one. As a result,
relationships between women and men, and later on even amongst
people of the same sex, are built based on the win-lose principle or
of the conqueror and the conquered.
6. Women's participation in the public sphere is rather limited to
their sexuality. Such examples can be observed everywhere. If you
are a woman driver, you are reminded at least once a day about your
supposedly limited driving abilities. In the workplace, the lunch
tables are often divided based on sex as men sit and talk about
"important" political and economic issues while women talk about
dresses, hair and makeup, and gossip about others. In addition,
living on your own when your parents live in the same city can be
considered rather strange and inappropriate. Many landlords often
ask whether you are on good terms with your family, for they don't
understand why in the world would a young woman want to live on her
own. Gender becomes the glue that holds together most of the human
interactions in our daily life.
7. Although in the public sphere decisions are often made by male
politicians to introduce gender quotas in order to promote women in
politics, these are rather short-term and short-envisioned
solutions. Even though we can find many band aids to publicly solve
problems caused by Albania's strongly patriarchal system, they will
TIRANA 00000919 002 OF 002
not provide a long-term and sustainable solution for many Albanian
women in their daily life. As a consequence, they will fail, hence
undermining feminist efforts for a fair and equal society for men
and women.
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM KJUS AL
SUBJECT: Embassy Tirana Weekly Report
Energy Superpower or Super Colony?
--------------
1. The visit of the Italian PM Berlusconi earlier this month
attracted a lot of attention for good and for bad. During the short
visit both Berlusconi and Prime Minister Berisha hailed the current
bilateral relationship. They agreed on further intensifying
economic ties, particularly energy and agriculture, as well as
increased cooperation in the education, culture and health sectors.
The GOA signed four agreements with Italian companies for
infrastructure projects. Two of them in the energy sector worth US$
2.7 billion represent the largest projects approved in recent years.
One is a degasification plant located in the coastal areas near Fier
and an adjacent undersea gas pipeline wh`Q`pQ`Q Qa`QQQ"q(d$a,g "4 ghnd turbines on the KaraburQb( 0a.a.c4d (f dhe b`i of
Vlore, with a generat)g. "a0a"atq gf 4 0 MG, Almost all of the
electr)c)tx prndtcdd gmeld be exported to Italy.
2. Apart from PM Berisha, wHo giddily boasted that the planned
projects would turn Albania into a regional "energy superpower," the
proposed Italian investments generated little excitement and instead
stirred up controversy. The proposed wind farm on the Karaburuni
peninsula has raised a lot of concern among civil society
representatives because of its environmental effects. The project
is located near a protected national park, and the entire area is
unspoiled due to its complete isolation. The opposition also called
on the government to make the profit and the cost of these large
projects transparent to the Albanian people. On the other hand, PM
Berisha hailed the events and said that these projects are part of a
larger plan to turn Albania into a major energy exporter in the
region. In Mid-December, the GOA signed another large contract
worth US$ 1.4 billion with Austrian and Norwegian companies for the
construction of three hydropower plants in the Devolli River in
southern Albania.
3. While moving yet one step closer to reality, these projects
might still fall within the category of a mirage in the desert, and
are unlikely to happen, at least in the short to mid term. These
announcements were only the latest in a long series of grandiose
planned projects, unveiled by the GOA to much fanfare but then
slowly fading from the headlines as follow-up action never takes
place. It is obvious that due to not-in-my-backyard concerns, the
Italians will have the incentive to move forward faster this time,
and Albania is in desperate need for foreign investments and new
sources of electricity generation. However, there is also growing
public dissent against these projects, which in the public mind turn
Albania less into a superpower and more into a colony of its
neighbors.
A Room of One's Own
--------------
4. A generally overlooked aspect of the new electoral code is a
quota system for women candidates, aimed at improving women's
participation in politics and representation in parliament.
Unfortunately, this quota system is more band-aid than cure and
tends to underestimate the level of independence women ought to
experience in their private sphere in order to be successful in
their political undertakings.
5. In a patriarchal society such as Albania, women are relegated to
the household or the private sphere, where there is little room for
their own self, while men to the public one. As a result,
relationships between women and men, and later on even amongst
people of the same sex, are built based on the win-lose principle or
of the conqueror and the conquered.
6. Women's participation in the public sphere is rather limited to
their sexuality. Such examples can be observed everywhere. If you
are a woman driver, you are reminded at least once a day about your
supposedly limited driving abilities. In the workplace, the lunch
tables are often divided based on sex as men sit and talk about
"important" political and economic issues while women talk about
dresses, hair and makeup, and gossip about others. In addition,
living on your own when your parents live in the same city can be
considered rather strange and inappropriate. Many landlords often
ask whether you are on good terms with your family, for they don't
understand why in the world would a young woman want to live on her
own. Gender becomes the glue that holds together most of the human
interactions in our daily life.
7. Although in the public sphere decisions are often made by male
politicians to introduce gender quotas in order to promote women in
politics, these are rather short-term and short-envisioned
solutions. Even though we can find many band aids to publicly solve
problems caused by Albania's strongly patriarchal system, they will
TIRANA 00000919 002 OF 002
not provide a long-term and sustainable solution for many Albanian
women in their daily life. As a consequence, they will fail, hence
undermining feminist efforts for a fair and equal society for men
and women.