The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) Albanian office has released a report outlining the alarming rise in authoritarianism the country has seen during the coronavirus pandemic, which culminated in the “cloak-and-dagger operation” of demolishing the National Theater.
Signs of the government’s fight against independent media were evident from the start of the pandemic, as Prime Minister Edi Rama’s message to “wash your hands, stay indoors and watch out from the media” preceded phone calls. On May 15, the public health authority ordered the closure of anti-government broadcaster OraNews for having too many guests in a studio.
The National Theater, constructed in the 1930s and influenced by Italian futurism, was an invaluable part of Albania’s urban and artistic history, as well as part of the country’s cultural and national identity. It was included in Euopa Nostra’s 7 Most Endangered Monuments in Europe 2020 list.
In 2018, Prime Minister Edi Rama, insisting that the renovation of the National Theatre was impossible, presented a project for the construction of a new theater that would occupy less than half of the original area, and would be surrounded by high-rise buildings and a shopping center that would occupy the rest of the land. To implement this project, the parliament passed a special law that, among other things, would award public land to a private company without a tender.
This sparked the creation of the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre, composed of artists and activists, who organized protests, petitions, and lawsuits. It protected the building for 27 months.
The special law was questioned by the European Commission, whereas the Albanian President Ilir Meta refused to decree it and sent it back to parliament. On July 25, 2019, Meta asked the Constitutional Court to declare the special law unconstitutional. Seeing as the Court was inoperable at the time, the case only came under examination in late 2019. It had not been brought before the Court.
In May 2020, the government transferred ownership of the National Theatre’s land to the municipality. This led President Meta to file another complaint with the Constitutional Court.
However, on May 14, the Tirana municipal council secretly approved the demolition of the building based on a report of the Institute of Construction that was only drawn up a day before, on May 13. The decision did not specify a date for the demolition.
This vote, the KAS report asserts, was legally unfounded. Though the municipality owns the land on which the Theatre stood on, it did not own the building itself, and thus the municipal council had no authority upon it. Furthermore, a decision of the municipal council only goes into force ten days after it is made public. The National Theatre was demolished in the early hours of May 17.
The demolition has left not only citizens and activists, but also the President, the opposition, and an increasing number of international actors in a state of disbelief over it taking place under the double cover of night and pandemic restrictions, without any dialogue between the government and civil society.
Civil society organisations have condemned the demolition and the violence exerted by police in the protests that followed. In a press release, they warned of the greater danger to freedom of thought and civic resistance the demolition symbolizes. “We find ourselves in a difficult situation and are threatened by violence and constant repression from the state,” they said.
The demolition of the National Theatre may impact Albania’s chances at opening EU access negotiations, that are contingent on Albania meeting 15 prerequisites. Said prerequisites include ensuring rule of law, freedom of the press, and fighting corruption and organized crime.
Questions regarding the legality of the demolition of the National Theatre, such as the President’s Constitutional Court cases and legal action taken by the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre, appear futile after the irreversible demolition took place on May 17.
The report notes that the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the financial and social shocks that have accompanied it, has provided a significant opportunity for the government, with the state of emergency, which restricts freedom of assembly, remaining in force until June 23.
