SETimes.comShared interests foster Belgrade-Tirana ties
18/11/2009
While polar opposites regarding Kosovo's independence, Albania and Serbia are forging a closer relationship based on issues of mutual concern, such as EU integration.
Analysis by Robert Austin for Southeast European Times -- 18/11/09
A meeting last month on the sidelines of the Visegrad Four summit in Budapest highlighted a potentially significant trend-in-the-making: increasingly warm ties between Belgrade and Tirana.
Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta and his Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, took advantage of the occasion to lay the foundation for establishing a legal framework for bilateral relations. Jeremic also invited Meta to visit Belgrade.
Although the two have had a working relationship in the past, this was the first time they met while serving in their current posts. It also marked the end of a lengthy hiatus of high-level official contacts between the two foreign ministries.
"We are working in a way that we have not used to work in the past -- getting to know our viewpoints, addressing practical issues, so that the economy would not suffer on the account of our political differences," Jeremic said.
Meta struck a similar note, saying the countries are ready to work together even as they agree to disagree on certain topics.
Kosovo remains a major area of contention, of course. Albania has given full support to Pristina in its break from Serbia, and Prime Minister Sali Berisha sparked outrage recently with statements suggesting that Albania and Kosovo are part of a single nation.
That rhetoric aside, Belgrade and Tirana have increasingly found common ground on a range of issues.
"The development of our relationship with Serbia is one of the most important elements of our regional foreign policy," Meta said in an official statement for <I>Southeast European Times</I>. "I believe that the constructive and concrete co-operation between our two countries will have a highly positive impact for the whole region, politically and economically. "
He added, "Albania and Serbia are key countries for strengthening peace, stability and prosperity in the region. We are for a new era in our relationship with Serbia, an era of mutual co-operation for a common European future."
Driving the trend is a recognition on the part of both countries of their emerging roles in the region, within the context of integration.
Albania finds itself in the role of bridge-builder. As a new member of NATO, involved as well in a whole series of multilateral organisations and aspiring to EU integration, the country has no choice but to act in the best interests of regional co-operation.
Much the same can be said about Serbia, where pro-Western leadership has invested enormous energy in placing the country on a new track.
There are also important economic factors at play. While Yugoslavia may have failed as a state, statistics indicate that historical trade patterns have persisted. For Tirana, being part of the regional trade game means forging close ties with its ex-Yugoslav neighbours.
"We have open issues, which none of us is trying to minimise or ignore. I would say that we are addressing these issues with maturity," Jeremic said in October. "We share the vision of a stable Balkans, integrated in the EU and not harmed due to our differences. This journey has to start at a certain point and we are starting it today."
Southeast European Times correspondents Manjola Hala and Sami Neza contributed to this report.