After Albanians demonstrated in London on Saturday against xenophobia from the British government and media, Albanian politicians in Tirana rallied in force to pay their respects at a joint British-German Remembrance Sunday service in the capital.
At the end of October, British Home Secretary Suella Braverman called Albanians crossing The Channel to seek asylum in the UK, en masse, an “invasion”. This sparked outrage in Albania, with Prime Minister Edi Rama accusing Westminster of xenophobia and using hate to mask their own policy failures.
On Saturday, several thousand Albanians living legally in the UK, a part of the 140,000-strong community, took to the streets of London to decry the language used against them. They wore traditional dress, waved the Albanian and British flags, and played folk music while holding signs of protest.
But, in Tirana, a show of solidarity was taking place. The British Embassy, together with the German Embassy, organised a joint ceremony of remembrance to commemorate the losses, victims, survivors, and legacy of the two world wars and those since, as well as 52 British and Albanian soldiers that died while fighting for the cause.
“Beyond the blood of the past, the future must find us together,” said British Ambassador Alastair King-Smith, who also nodded to the current migration crisis.
“The Second World War was a “Titanic” for the English people and the whole world. Many young people left their homes never to return,” he said, noting the importance of building bridges of cooperation and leaving past grudges behind.
Amongst the crowd were politicians from both sides of the spectrum, including Socialist Chief Whip Taulant Balla, Minister of State Elisa Spiropalli, and ministers Pandeli Majko, Mimi Kodheli, and Fatmir Xhafaj. From the centre-right were former Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha and deputies Belind Kellici and Bujar Leskaj, and Freedom Party deputy and former chairperson Monika Kryemadhi.
It was also attended by many of the country’s diplomatic representatives, religious institutions, justice institutions, and armed forces of the three countries.
German Ambassador Peter Zingraff said Tirana was the perfect place for the ceremony, “At the beginning of this year, the war again showed its darkest side and what we have to do is to be together, leaving behind the divisions of the past, for the great goal of preserving peace and democracy.”
In October 1944, some 40 British Navy soldiers attacked Saranda to retake it from fascist forces. They encountered strong resistance and only managed to overthrow them by joining forces with the local partisans. Those who died were buried in an unmarked grave near the current memorial established in 1994.
Meanwhile, the right-wing former UKIP leader and ex-MEP Nigel Farage took to Twitter to accuse Albanians of taking over “Remembrance weekend in London.” In fact, there is no such event as Remembrance weekend, as Armistice Day falls on Friday, with Remembrance Sunday two days later.
Observers were also quick to point out that as taxpayers and residents, the protestors had every right to protest, also noting that many Albanian soldiers have fought alongside the British Army over the years.
This right-wing rhetoric has resulted in many Albanians living in the UK reporting harassment, even of their children at school. These include best-selling author and professor and academic at the London School of Economics, Lea Ypi, who said her daughter was facing bullying because she is Albanian.
Arlinda Ballcaj, UK Conservative Party member and lobbyist said she had been verbally and physically attacked because she was Albanian.
“I am a person who has faced racism. I ran for mayor in the country where I live and I was attacked online and physically by certain people who thought it was not normal for an Albanian like me and strange, that’s the word they used, to be mayor. I was attacked with a bulldog and ended up in the hospital bleeding,” she told Euronews Albania.
Supporters of the Democratic Party led by ex-prime minister and president Sali Berisha also rallied in Tirana over the weekend, against the socialist government. They accuse Rama of depopulating the country and driving migration, as well as for issues related to cost of living increases and corruption.
In fact, Some 1.4 million Albanians have left the country over the last 30 years with 400,000 believed to have gone in the last decade. The statistics and multiple waves show that migration has always been an issue, regardless of which party is in power.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
