50 vjet marredhenie me jashte - Reflektime të mëtejshme të autorit

Abstract

In his first book of the series “50 Years of Foreign Relations”, Ambassador Dashnor Dervishi covers his experience encompassing the period 1972-1992. The events and observations depicted in the book highlight the fact that despite the social system and the interests of the political class in power, the strategic interests of the country remain the fundamentals of its foreign policy. The relations of the Party-State with the leftist movements in Latin America during 1970-80 were driven by the power that had its influence in Albania at that period. Aware of its actions, the political leadership followed the conjunctures for the preservation of power, thus ensuring vital aid for the finances and economy of the country, as well as the international support of conjectural alliances. Most of the book comprises the memoirs of the Ambassador in Italy, in the period 1988-1992. It was a time, when right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the demarcation line between the two blocs during the Cold War, was displaced from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea and Albania became part of the social system it belonged to. Under the new circumstances, the political rapport between Italy and Albania assumed a more “geographic dimension” and Rome became the main point of reference for all the relations with the West. Italy became the “promised land” of the Albanians, making a reality of the expression “All roads lead to Rome”. The departure of Popa family to Italy, after a 5-year long refuge in the Italian embassy (1985-1990), was followed by mass inundation of the embassies in Tirana, a biblical departure of more than 25 thousand Albanians towards the Italian shores, on 13 July of the same year. The first “secret” meetings with religious and lay representatives, enabled the visit of Saint Tereza of Calcutta in Albania and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See. This period in Italy was characterized by the intensification of unprecedented relations between Albania and Italy in all fields. After 22 March1992, the democratic system was established in Albania. Under the new conditions, the role and the position of Albania in the European and Regional arena did not change and the non-productive idea of the country’s leadership that the West and the US need us, fueled the old mentality: “We govern and the world helps us”.