In December 1991, George Soros established his foundation in Tirana. Albania was the last country of Eastern Europe where communists were still in power and the democratic opposition was expected to take its place quickly. The American billionaire’s foundations had been established before in Budapest and all other Eastern European countries. In some of these countries, foundations were established when communists were still in power and one-party system ruled the country. In 1991, Albania was the only country where his structure hadn’t been established yet.
Soros was inspired by the ideas of Karl Popper, one of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century, who favored a liberal democratic system in an open society and stood against Marxist and authoritarian philosophies. He directed his people to work toward these goals. In countries closed and strained by communism, where free thought didn’t exist and was punishable, he attempted to inspire an open society based on free and liberal thought. He supported this theory and became deeply involved in the political developments in former Yugoslavia and other places. The goal of the foundation was to identify characters and personalities, mainly young people, who could be the pillars of a liberal, social, and political future in their home countries. So he identified, elected, supported, and strengthened what could be considered the future elite of these places. This elite followed ideas of liberal democracy. The foundation helped launch the careers of these people through financing and political lobbying.
The history of the Soros Foundation in Albania is more complicated and specific. With Fron Nazi, an Albanian-American from Puka raised in the Bronx, who arrived in Tirana in December 1991, the foundation had gone in two directions. The first one related to the political philosophy of the foundation while the second one was administrative and related to the projects and its benefactors. We are curently building a complete file on the foundation depicting its full activities, which will be published on weekend. The administrative activity holds little importance while the political was more obvious. From 1992 to 1996 the foundation aimed at the liberal opposition of Sali Berisha and the co-founders of the Democratic Party who tried to keep the former communists at arm’s length. After 1996 it established a stronger relationship with the left and right-wing 20-something personalities supported by the foundation are few and far between, while the support of the left wing had increased. Edi Rama became acquainted with George Soros in 1993 in Budapest under very interesting circumstances.
But going beyond right and left and the typical adaption of Soros’s thesis to the Albanian way, despite a tribal and ideological support of his ideas, it is believed that the foundation has supported many personalities that promote the philosophy of an open and liberal society. In other words, after 26 years, it was believed that an elite was created with constant support from the foundation which promoted Popper’s philosophy. Unfortunately, the latest events proved that this didn’t happen at all, and that the thesis and philosophies of Soros were a total failure in Albania. For two weeks, Opinion has been attempting to organize a TV show about the role and activities of Soros in Albania focusing on its philosophy of an open society. It is unfortunate that the people opposing the ideas of the foundation have come together rather easily, while the ones who support it are impossible to be present. The long list of intellectuals and personalities that benefited politically and financially has been reduced in a few names. So gathering an actual group of them to be in front of those who oppose them is impossible. Beyond the individual excuses not to be present in the studio, it is obvious that this philosophy has been a failure for Albania. Supporters of Soros’s philosophies have been confronted with criticism everywhere else in Europe, except in Albania, where voices have been mostly silent or have avoided the debate. An exception is an article of Andi Bushati, who himself has never been associated with the foundation.
The absence of supporters of Soros’s philosophy, for whom he invested a total of $150 million in Albania, is also the failure of all his investments in Albania. Or, perhaps, a wrong move…
