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Foreign Minister’s Departure Takes Albania By Surprise

30 04 2007  Souring relationship between minister and former ally, Prime Minister Sali Berisha, seen as main reason behind resignation.

By Andi Balla

When Besnik Mustafaj, Albania’s Foreign Minister, walked in front of the cameras on April 24, his words caught even Albania’s gossipy media and political circles entirely by surprise.

“I have submitted my irrevocable resignation to the Prime Minister,” the top diplomat said, stumbling over the word “irrevocable”, as if trying to subconsciously feed the frenzy of speculation that was bound to follow.

The official reason is “exhaustion”, but few in Tirana are buying it; signs are increasingly pointing to a souring relationship with Prime Minister Sali Berisha as the real reason behind Mustafaj’s departure.

Despite public statements of appreciation and thanks by both men on the day of the resignation, government insiders and political analysts say Mustafaj and Berisha had recently had strong disagreements over the management of foreign policy.

Berisha had been unhappy with Mustafaj’s inability to get the Prime Minister into high-level meetings with international leaders. Mustafaj, on the other hand, was resentful of Berisha and others in his right-of-centre Democratic Party for meddling in his direct duties as Foreign Minister. A long telephone conversation between the two men preceded the public announcement, according to several media reports.

Berisha has a history of being a tough boss who keeps cabinet ministers under constant pressure at all hours of day and night. The Prime Minister’s boot-camp tactics and history of micro-management probably became unbearable for Mustafaj, according to a former government official who now runs a think-tank in Tirana.

Albert Rakipi, a former Albanian deputy foreign minister who worked with both Mustafaj and Berisha in the 1990s, said it is clear the relationship between Berisha and Mustafaj had soured, though not all the reasons related to foreign policy.

“It would not be surprising at all if the core of the conflict is the Prime Minister’s very strong personality,” Rakipi said.

He added that Mustafaj had increasingly been seen as outsider in the Democratic Party, and public and private attacks on him by circles close to the Prime Minister may have shaken Mustafaj’s trust in Berisha.

“The disagreements became deeper and in the end were able to erode the long-standing friendly relationship between them,” Rakipi suggested.

Mustafaj, a writer-turned-diplomat, was Albania’s ambassador to France in the mid-1990s. He then became Berisha’s top foreign relations advisor and a close friend during the eight years the Democratic Party was in opposition.

Berisha and Mustafaj share a similar background. They both come from the tiny mountainous district of Tropoja, bordering on Kosovo, later becoming respected intellectuals and, with the fall of communism, key politicians in Tirana.

Mustafaj became Foreign Minister in 2005 following a mini-feud with Jozefina Topalli, Berisha's number two, who had set her eyes on the foreign ministry but later became the speaker of parliament.

The continuing feud with Topalli, was earlier seen as another reason for Mustafaj’s resignation, but that is now less likely, since Berisha announced he was moving Transportation Minister Lulzim Basha, a rising young star of the Democratic Party, into Mustafaj's seat.

Mustafaj’s resignation has come at a time when Albania is facing a busy international agenda. His successor will have to hit the ground running.

Earlier this month, Mustafaj spearheaded Albania’s efforts to support Kosovo's independence at the United Nations, meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Martti Ahtisaari, the UN special envoy to Kosovo and a series of Security Council ambassadors. At the UN, Mustafaj hammered home Albania’s message that Tirana has no intention of seeking a union with Kosovo and only sought independence for the UN-administered territory.

In May, Mustafaj had been due to visit the US State Department and meet his counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, to discuss Kosovo and Albania’s Euro-Atlantic integration. The Washington trip would have seen the details of the forthcoming June 10 visit of the US President, George Bush, to Tirana hammered out.

Albania has been a staunch US ally, sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq in its bid to show that it is ready take an active part in future NATO missions.

The day he resigned, Mustafaj had just returned from a visit to Macedonia, a key partner for Albania in its efforts to join NATO next year.

Domestically, the resignation spells trouble for the Democratic Party-led coalition, as Berisha was forced to reorganize his cabinet. At least one of his smaller political allies, the Christian Democratic Party, had indicated it wanted the empty foreign minister’s seat filled from its ranks, though Berisha did not budge.

On the left of the political spectrum, Mustafaj’s resignation gave ammunition to opposition claims that Berisha was incompetent and ought to go, too.

“Mustafaj's resignation was an internal appeal directed to the Prime Minister that it is time for him to resign,” said Skender Gjinushi, of the opposition Social Democratic Party.

Gjinushi also delivered some rare words of praise from the other side of the political divide, commending Mustafaj for his diplomatic efforts.

A resignation from a top post is not unheard-of in Albania, though it has usually followed a grave national event or a long-drawn-out public fight.

The riots of 1997 ended the rule of the Democratic Party through a series of resignations sealed by national elections. The rule of the Socialist Party also saw the resignations of two of it own prime ministers, as rival factions fought each other for domination.

More positively, the sudden departure of the Foreign Minister, while keeping tensions within the Democratic Party ranks private, could be a sign that Albania’s democracy is maturing.

Mustafaj led his resignation speech by expressing “gratitude to Prime Minister Berisha who three months ago admitted in the annual analysis of the government for 2006 that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Albanian diplomacy have been very successful in accomplishing their mission”.

Hours later, Berisha came out with his own official statement, thanking Mustafaj for his invaluable co-operation in his duties as Foreign Minister.

“With regret, the Prime Minister expresses his understanding for this decision,” the statement from Berisha’s office concluded.

Andi Balla is a master's candidate at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Balkan Insight contributor. Balkan Insight is BIRN`s online publication.