Greek-Albanian relations and ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’
Certainly influenced by the message of fair play, noble competition and the unique honor of participation that the Olympic Games convey, I am reminded of the famous – now largely forgotten – three-word Olympic motto introduced by Baron Pierre de Coubertin upon the creation of the International Olympic Committee: “Citius, Altius, Fortius.” It is conventionally translated as “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” Taking some distance from the events in Paris, I wonder if and how this motto, loosely adapted, could be tried as our policy towards Albania.
A fundamental principle in foreign policy is to set the bar at the appropriate height. The desired height must be achievable, so you place it at the height you can jump over. However, in our relations with Albania over the years, we have become accustomed to passing under the bar.
We passed below the bar when some officials were expressing concern about Greece’s supposedly asymmetric and disadvantageous “involvement” in the case of the illegal arrest, imprisonment and conviction of the elected mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri. An even bigger mistake than insisting on this original incorrect position was its mutation into a “political line.” Those in the know understand that these formulated positions ignored the aforementioned Olympic motto. The worst version of them was when they tried to claim that our allies and partners were annoyed with or even indifferent to our grievances.
As if Albania and personally Prime Minister Edi Rama suddenly had a stronger case than Greece. That’s a humiliating argument for Athens. The argument that our allies will be displeased was heard again in the crucial 24 hours that preceded Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ nationally necessary – and crucial for the prestige of Greece vis-a-vis the Greek ethnic minority in Albania – decision to include Beleri on the governing party’s European ticket. The internal reasons behind that decision make no difference to me.
Let’s put this in the form of a question: Was the decision not to take any action – no bilateral measure was taken by Greece – in our relations with Rama’s regime based on reports, recommendations, and assessments of official services over the past year or on illusions and a perception that was based on a mistaken assessment of Rama?
Rama is convinced that his plans, his political pursuits and his plan for Himare have overpowered the free and democratic will of the ethnic Greek minority
The aim here is not to rehash and highlight the errors of the past 15 months. We already know them. But we should at least prevent the next mistake, the prevalence of the slogan “We are turning the page in Greek-Albanian relations,” as the “only logical policy.” Which is something that Rama logically desires and pursues, starting from the UN meeting in New York. Will there be any conditions set for the talks? Unless we’re thinking of lowering the bar so low as to ensure we will jump over it. Or rather, that Rama will not force us to pass under it again, because none of the successive conditions we set during the 15-month imprisonment of Beleri was satisfied by the leadership of our neighboring and NATO member-country.
Bilateral relations with Albania are very important, as I have consistently argued for 30 years, and they need special attention. At this moment, Rama is convinced that his plans, his political pursuits and his plan for Himare have overpowered the free and democratic will of the ethnic Greek minority. In his own mind, the loser is not the minority, but Greece itself. With the conviction of a winner, he adopts the slogan “We are turning the page.” Those who, through their silence, thought it preferable to distance ourselves from this issue before the elections also contributed to the formation of this perception. The result is exactly what they tried to avoid – unfortunately. We must understand that we do not become invisible when we bury our heads in the sand.
We have understood correctly that it is very difficult to transfer the ideals of Olympism – even in its most commercial version – to the arena of our bilateral relations. Here, where the noble hendiatris “Citius, Altius, Fortius” competes with the arrogance of Balkan leaders and the unsuccessful, 15-year recipe of “turning the page.”
Alexandros P. Mallias is a former ambassador of Greece to Washington, Skopje and Tirana.
