The issue of national identity is taken seriously by Balkan people – including the least serious among them.
EU,US Diplomatic Effort to End Albania Crisis
Tirana | 03 February 2010 |
Local media reported the US ambassador John L Withers met with Rama, while EU delegation head Helmut Lohan and Spanish Ambassador Manuel Montobbio met with Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Both leaders have refused to budge over from their positions, despite a resolution from the Council of Europe, CoE, last Thursday urging them to compromise and start talks under the guidance of President Bamir Topi.
The CoE resolution calls for an end to the Socialist Party-led boycott of parliament and a thorough investigation of the June 28 parliamentary elections in the country.
Led by Rama, the Socialists have boycotted parliament since the new session began in September, claiming that the government’s alleged fraud was to blame for their electoral loss.
The Socialists have conditioned their return to parliament on a partial recount of electoral ballots in two districts.
Although declaring his openness to a parliamentary investigation of the election, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has stubbornly rejected the possibility of a recount. He argues that the opposition has exhausted all legal options and that he cannot override the judicial process.
Following the resolution, Rama declared that he was open to dialogue but he has refused thus far to compromise on his request for a ballot recount. Meanwhile, in addition to his rejection of a recount, Berisha does not seem to approve of President Topi acting as a mediator.
A former MP from Berisha's Democratic Party, Topi has had a difficult relationship with the Albanian premier since his election in 2007. Local commentators believe that Berisha does not want to give the president the opportunity to take credit for solving the crisis, because he sees him as a possible rival in the Democratic Party after Topi's term expires.
