By Ylli Pata
Philip Reeker left Italy today, where he accompanied his boss Antony Blinken and visited Tirana and then Skopje.
It is an important political visit of the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, which is really directly directed to our region in DASH, a visit that coincides with some important developments for Albania, and quite rapid since April. That is the elections of April 25,
The appointment of Sali Berisha as Non Grata by the State Department, the dismissal of the President of the Republic, Ilir Meta, by the Parliament of Albania, the Defender 21 exercise that took place in a large part of Albania, and the news that was published last night are normal for a possibility of infiltration of the Russian military secret service agency in Albania.
In the announcement that DASH has published days ago for the visit of Philip Reeker, it is said that he will meet in Tirana the Prime Minister Edi Rama, but also other actors.
So, the main interlocutor will be the prime minister, where according to the probabilities, tradition, but also developments, there may be a meeting with the leader of the opposition, Lulzim Basha.
The lack of an audience with Meta, although the visit should be viewed with caution, is quite likely to be a political signal.
As is expected to be the one that Reeker will give for Rama, but especially for Lulzim Basha, who according to information can meet at the blue headquarters shortly before noon. And it is likely that the US will formally seek the position of the DP regarding the move that this political force will make, and the behavior that it will maintain after the non grata declaration of the former President and former Prime Minister Berisha.
Will Basha remove him from the parliamentary group or will we have a removal from the doctor’s mandate? These are hot topics that in all likelihood, have even greater value from the physical trip of a senior DASH official to Tirana. The State Department gives a stand even with a twitter, press release, or even an interview on VOA, but the value of the direct arrival of the senior US official is quite important.
In all likelihood, the message he will give live in Tirana are pretty serious. Reeker is an excellent connoisseur of Albania, Kosovo and the Balkans. He started as a diplomat in Hungary and Skopje, and later was an assistant to Ambassador Chris Hill at the Rambouillet Conference on Kosovo.
Then DASH spokesperson during the war in Kosovo, ambassador to Northern Macedonia appointed by President Bush, to rise to this senior post that heads the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. While that for Asia, another old “recognition” of ours, Ambassador Donald Lu, for whom Ilir Meta recently stated that the people of Kyrgyzstan rejected the plan hatched by the ambassador.
But what is most likely is that Reeker’s visit will further escalate Washington’s political language about what is called “public impunity” in Albania. It is possible not to talk about principles but about concrete times, and maybe even dates…
topics
