A letter sent by the Russian foreign ministry to all its European counterparts, including Albania, has caused a stir in Parliament with opposition MP and ex-prime minister and president Sali Berisha calling it a “threat to every Albanian” and said it should mark the end of Serbia’s influence on the country.
In recent days, the Russian foreign ministry sent a letter to Europe’s foreign ministries, including Albania’s, voicing displeasure over security issues and the actions of “the United States and NATO.
The letter states that the response from the West to the proposals laid down by Russia in January “demonstrates serious differences in terms of the principle of equal and indivisible security which is essential to the entire European security architecture.”
It continues that each state is free to choose or amend its security agreements, including treaties of alliances, or to be neutral. However, it cautions states that cannot strengthen their security at the expense of another.
The letter accuses recipients of deviating from various international agreements, levied accusations at NATO and calls for “immediate clarification”.
Berisha condemned the letter and said, “I want to emphasize that the letter is an insult and threat to every Albanian…Today Russia surpasses as a force of evil any threatening force known to history, threatens to use a nuclear weapon against free countries, threatens to invade a neighbouring country, tries to destroy NATO, and threatens a NATO member that has a government led by a Belgrade mercenary,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Edi Rama who has recently signed several agreements with Vucic, under the Open Balkan agreement.
He called on Parliament to vote on a resolution to express solidarity with Ukraine.
“The biggest, worst of all-time threat today is Putin’s Russia,” Berisha said.
Albania has been a NATO member since 1993 and has recently announced plans to construct a NATO airbase in the south of the country. Despite this, the government, which is somewhat removed from Russia in its stance, has so far failed to speak up on the Ukraine crisis.
Tensions with the Russian embassy have been simmering for some time, however, after the expulsion of a Russian diplomat in January 2021. The employee was allegedly expelled for failing to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions, which the embassy denied. Russia responded by expelling an Albanian diplomat from the embassy in Moscow.
The Russian embassy and Rama were engaged in something of a spat in December 2020 after the former publicly offered Sputnik COVID-19 vaccines to Albania, which at the time was yet to secure any vaccines at all.
Rama called the offer “inappropriate” and “ridiculous” and said he thought it was a joke. “It is not good for a serious country like Russia to become ridiculous with such posts.” He asked for an apology, but it was not forthcoming.
