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Berisha's resolution as a triumph in the political arena (a territory where Rama is kept invincible)
Alfred Lela
Sali Berisha was behind the Resolution condemning the Serb crimes in Srebrenica, Bosnia, and calling them genocide, although the initiative was disguised after being named 'a group of Democratic MPs'.
At first glance, the resolution does not coincide with the Srebrenica commemorative context, an event that is commemorated in early July each year. Berisha took it out of the political sleeve as well, skillfully linking it to the domestic political context. He needs to energize the opposition political action, which had returned to Netflix with denunciations from the blue headquarters, at the time when the party was led by Basha. Even those few initiatives taken outside the denunciation, such as a law on decommunization, campaigned shortly before the departure, failed to create a magnetic field in public attention and were forgotten as they were launched.
This has to do with both the charisma of the former mayor and the choice of topics. Srebrenica and Serbian crimes are topics that resonate strongly, both in Albania and in Kosovo. Although not stated, it implies that the victims of the massacre are Bosniaks, but at the same time exclusively Muslim. In Albania where the faith has been revived, both Christian and Muhammadan, the threads of religions are not that they do not excite their followers. In Kosovo, it is simpler, and it has nothing to do with religion, but directly with ethnicity and tragedy. Kosovars have experienced Serbian violence on their backs and its physical and spiritual wounds are still open.
Thus, a theme that captures both of these sentiments is a winning option in the field overloaded with political PR messages.
But, it is not only this level that carries all the Serbian things in the Albanian space. Belgrade, Tirana, and Skopje have for years been part of a regional initiative called the Open Balkans (sometimes Little Schengen). According to him, the Albanian Prime Minister has become an uninterrupted promoter of this opening idea. But neither Kosovars nor Montenegrins see it that way, as many in Tirana suspect. Berisha's resolution has been the biggest target here. He knew that a resolution on the Serb genocide in Srebrenica would raise a wave of discontent in Belgrade and that it would strain relations between 'brothers' Rama and Vucic. Berisha himself has been a strong and vocal opponent of Open Balkan and the change of borders. The latter, he claims, has also been the basis of American non-grata towards him. But, In a fantastic way, as only political scheming allows, in the Resolution, Berisha joins the Americans. The US Congress already has in its archives a 2005 Resolution where Srebrenica is not considered a massacre, but genocide.
In the final, the former prime minister caught the prime minister right in the corner where he wanted. The red cards of his deputies against a Resolution on Srebrenica, a stain on the European conscience of the twentieth century, are a relentless blow to the image. But this is not the only problem. Rama has a PR problem with Berisha. A strong statement of the last few days regarding the investigations that SPAK should start (initially the arrests), many commentators have described it as pressure from the PM, which follows the fear that the investigations are approaching his close circle. As good as this is true, Rama's statement inevitably has to do with another reality. Although the first political actor in the country, for months and especially after taking over the PD headquarters, Berisha is the highest political voice in the country.
This may not be good for a politician and a political force aiming at the center of debate and setting political agendas. And this is the first sign of strength that Sali Berisha has offered to his classic opponent, Edi Rama. It seems to be just the beginning.