Klevis Balliu recounts his childhood amidst threats and politics: I got my passion from home, not from my father

Democratic Party MP Klevis Balliu shared the personal story that connected him to politics on the "Elevate" podcast with Floriana Garon.

He confessed that the desire to get involved in political life has always been his, while his father, writer and publisher Fahri Balliu, according to him, did not want to influence him towards this path.

Balliu says that politics was present in his family every day, as "politicians came and went" in their house, while his childhood took place in a tense climate, especially during the years 1997–1998.

He recalled that the family was exposed to danger due to strong denunciations made by the newspaper run by his father, which forced him to live for a period in Elbasan, while his father remained in Tirana.

" To be honest, no. He didn't want to. I always did."

Politicians were coming and going in my house all the time, the whole world was surrounded by this issue.

I was about 9 years old in 97-98 and we had a newspaper that denounced the gangs of that time very strongly and by name, and at that time it was so dangerous that we were forced to separate. I went and lived in Elbasan, while my father stayed in Tirana.

So, the danger of this was all the time and normally as a child you start and you understand that there is something different in your family. 
It was with moments because it was a very realistic threat and this was not only for the family but a good part of the Democrats exposed at that time, people close to the Democratic party, we had this problem because it was the whole gang and the mafia that was everywhere at that time.

In '98, I remember the Kosovo war and my first publication was in '99 in the newspaper Bota Sot and it was a short poem, it was about Kosovo.

"There was interest and enjoyment in this part of publishing from the beginning because my father was a writer, my father's books were read and the idea of ​​being public and taking a stand was always there, and then in 2001-2002 I grew up and understood who the people who came to the house were," said Balliu.

He also recalled the time of the Kosovo war, indicating that his first publication was in 1999 in the newspaper Bota Sot, where he published a poem about Kosovo. Balliu connects the first influence on his desire to be a public figure to the fact that his father was a writer and the family constantly talked about issues of public interest.

One of the strongest moments of his childhood, according to him, was his relationship with Azem Hajdari, who often visited their house.

"After his murder, I realized that something very bad had happened to my father's friend. The older I got, the more I understood the importance of his figure, " Balliu said.

Asked how his passion for politics was born, he said that it was a natural result of the environment in which he grew up, emphasizing that that period was filled with a sense of patriotism, unlike today.

"I grew up in a house where only politicians came and went, family discussions were only about politics, the media, the newspaper, and the sacrifices made with denunciations, and the issue of national interest was talked about all the time.

At that time, there was a lot of talk about the thesis that Sali Berisha brought, 'one nation, one attitude' in 1988 in Skanderbeg Square. Even in society, it was like a spirit, at least in my generation, the spirit of patriotism, whereas today it is not as strong. 

"I remember when I was around 15 years old when they were discussing moving abroad for studies and the reason they convinced me to go abroad was that if I went abroad, there would be more of a chance to become a politician and they have had that all along ," said Balliu. 

Watch the full interview: