Ikonografi skënderbegiane – Pjesa IV

Që figura madhështore e Heroit Kombëtar Shqiptar Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeut është trajtuar dhe glorifikuar historikisht nga emra të shquar të klasicizmit, humanizmit e iluminizmit europian e botëror, në mbushulli veprash historike, letrare e artistike – të cilat qëndrojnë në themel të shkencës skënderbegiane –, kjo përbën, me të drejtë, ajkën e krenarisë sonë kombëtare. Por që figura e tij të vihet edhe në qendër të baladës angleze të shekullit XVII Shën Gjergji dhe Dragoi, recituar e kënduar si litani në kishat anglikane, duke e bërë Skënderbeun tonë të barabartin e mbi 50 heronjve më të mëdhenj të të gjitha kohërave, – ja një veçanti e madhërishme për ikonografinë skënderbegiane. Për më tepër që kjo baladë angleze përbën në vetvete një lloj himni për kombin e ndritur anglez që ka për shenjt mbrojtës pikërisht Shën Gjergjin.

Dita e Shën Gjergjit – përcaktuar dikur 23 prilli, ka qenë festa tradicionale angleze dhe vetë kryqi i kuq i Shën Gjergjit në sfond të bardhë është flamuri i Anglisë. Deviza anglo-normande që e shoqëron “Hony soit qui mal y pense” – Mallkuar qoftë kush keq mendon, përbën emblemën e Urdhërit të Zharëtierës, urdhri më i lartë i kalorësisë britanike. Tepër i habitshëm është edhe fakti që Shekspiri (1564-1616), dramaturgu më i madh anglez e botëror, lindi dhe vdiq pikërisht më 23 prill, ditën e Shën Gjergjit.

Ballada angleze “Shën Gjergji dhe Dragoi” vë në dukje para së gjithash madhështinë e Shën Gjergjit, tek tingëllon si një rivendikim identiteti anglez. E shfaq Shenjtin Mbrojtës përmbi Heronjtë e mëdhenj të të gjitha kohërave duke shprehur në formë refreni ndjenjën e fuqishme të krishterë se vetëm kreshnikëria e Shën Gjergjit që u përball e mposhti Dragoin, simbolin e së keqes e të djallit është bëma më e lartë fisnike kalorësiake, e pakrahasueshme me kurrfarë tjetër dhe se të mohosh një gjë të tillë është e turpshme, mjaft që ta shkosh nëpër mend.

Balada apo romanca kalon kësisoj në “revistë” tërë heronjtë mitikë, antikë, klasikë e figura të ndritura të kombit anglez, francez dhe kombeve të tjera, gjithësecili me bëmën e vet karakteristike, me kreshnikërinë e vet të mahnitshme, por përsëri të pakrahasueshme me Bëmën e Lartë të Shën Gjergjit.

Pa u ndalur në karakteristikën fisnike të çdo Heroi a Princi, të çdo lloj kohe, që la gjurmë të pashlyeshme në Histori me Bëmën e vet, në emër të humanizmit e njerëzimit, ja ku na shfaqet në Baladë figura e Heroit tonë Kombëtar Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeut për bëmën e tij madhështore, atë luftë çerekshekullore kundër ish superfuqisë së kohës Perandorisë osmane. Brenda një vargu, në formë sintetike e me kundërvënie të fuqishme shfaqet, thjesht e prerë vetë kreshnikëria kastriotine: “Skanderbegun e madh Pasha Muhameti frikë e kish”(!)

Krejt qëndresa heroike shqiptare përfshihet këtu, brenda këtij vargu esencial: Një Pasha Mehmet II, në krye të hordhive të tij 130-150 mijë vetëshe, në luftë të pareshtur 25 vjeçare me Skënderbeun e Madh në krye të gardës së tij pretoriane me 5 mijë kalorës dhe me një ushtri që nuk i kalonte më shumë se 20 mijë këmbësorë. Shpërpjestime të tilla numerike të kujtojnë me të drejtë luftën e Davidit kundër Goliatit, kur cilësia, virtyti, ndjenja e mbrojtjes dhe vetëdija kombëtare marrin përparësi e ngadhënjejnë ndaj sasisë numerike, vesit dhe ndjenjës për pushtim, gllabërim, mposhtje e poshtërim. Është kjo, përballja historike në dualitetin “E mirë – E keqe” sintetizuar gjatë kristianizmit në luftën e Shën Gjergjit kundër Dragoit.

Dy vargje të tjera që pasojnë vargun e mësipërm janë po aq kuptimplota: “Eshtrat e tij fitimtare, hajmali u bënë si u varros në kishë;/ Bejlerbegët e tij mbi krye mbanin brirët e dhisë, tek e quanin Gjergj Kastriot.” Nuk ka më bukur! Heroi shqiptar ngadhënjimtar Gjergj Kastrioti, shpallur nga papati “Atleti i Krishtit”, në paralelizëm të plotë me Heroin e krishtërimit Shën Gjergjin! Këtë paralelizëm e kemi shtjelluar tashmë në studimin tonë “Figura e Skënderbeut që bashkoi Nolin me Konicën”, botuar në këtë forum të Zemrës Shqiptare/Zemra jonë:

http://www.zemrashqiptare.net/news/40298/fotaq-andrea-skenderbeu-bashkoi-nolin-me-konicen.html

Nga ana tjetër, kemi në këto vargje edhe dy elementë themelorë simbolizues që përjetësojnë lavdinë kastriotine: “eshtrat hajmali të Skënderbeut” dhe “brirët e dhisë në përkrenaren e tij”. Balada angleze duket sikur e thotë açik: “ushtarët turq mbanin në gjoks eshtra hajmali të lavdisë skënderbegiane”, eshtra këto që na shfaqen si “të shenjtëruara”, teksa “kreshnikët shqiptarë (bedjlerbegët) mbanin mbi krye brirët e dhisë”, ato brirë që të kujtojnë historikisht Pirron e Epirit, Aleksandrin e Madh, vetë “dhinë mitologjike Amaltea”.

Është e njohur se arma simbol e Shën Gjergjit është ushta. Është po aq e njohur se edhe arma kryesore e stradiotit shqiptar – në themel të Kalorësisë së Lehtë Europiane me Gjergj Bastën në krye, që bëri Histori në shekujt XIV-XVII – është gjithashtu ushta, nga ku madje edhe fjala e bukur shqipe “ushtar”, “njeriu i ushtës”, “njeriu i zanatit të luftës”, siç është cilësuar historikisht vetë shqiptari. Gjë që nënkupton se çdo “ushtar” shqiptar ka mishëruar në vetvete një “Gjergj Kastriot”, një “Shën Gjergj”, nga ku edhe guximi i tij i pamatë dhe shpërthimi i ndjenjës së tij të fuqishme të Mbijetesës së lavdishme historike shqiptare.

Po japim më poshtë romancën lutësore angleze, pa hyrë në hollësitë domethënëse të bëmave të Heronjve të Mëdhenj apo të gjesteve të tyre mitike e simbolike, si guri i hobesë së Davidit të Vogël, apo nofulla e gomarit të Samsonit, e më tej preshi i simbol i Shën Davidit, shenjtit mbrojtës të Vendit të Galëve, etj. Janë simbole kuptimplota, po aq sa eshtrat-hajmali të Skënderbeut dhe brirët e dhisë që përmenden në baladë. Po e japim përkthimin e kësaj balade të plotë në nderim të popullit anglez dhe të kujtimit të Bajronit të Madh që i bëri të njohur shqiptarët në botë me vargjet e tij të pavdekshme, me kostumin shqiptar që mbajti të veshur aq hijshëm.

Më në fund, një recitim i shkëlqyer artistik i baladës në gjuhën origjinale angleze, me një zë melodioz sublim, që mbush kubetë dhe kupolat e kishave anglikane për të oshëtirë në pafundësi si lutje e mesazh hyjnor, që depërton për t’u mishëruar në çdo pore të besimtarit të krishterë dhe të vetë qenies njerëzore, mund të ndiqet me dëgjim në rrjetin:

https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/34079/recording

https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/34079/xml

Baladë angleze e shekullit XVII për Shën Gjergjin dhe Dragoin
kënduar si lutje në kishat anglikane

Përse u dashka mburrë Artur e kalorës të tij,
Kur ua njohim ato luftëra plot bëma e kreshnikëri ;
Përse u dashka folë për Sir Lansëlo të Liqerit,
A për Tristan të Leonisë, që për zonjëza u ndeshën ndezur nga dashuri;
Lëçitini ato të lashta histori dhe do shihni për bukuri,
Se vetëm Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji dragoin e mposhti gjithë trimëri,
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Palé për mbretër e monarkë sa gjatë do mund të flisni,
Apo për Romakët e lashtë që vetes i dhanë shkëlqim,
Me Hanibalë e Skipionë që luftuan plot guxim;
Palé të flisni për kalorësin kreshnik Rolandin Tërbimë;
Për Remin e Romulin që Romën ngritën në këmbë;
Por vetëm Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji dragoin vu nën këmbë;
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Njerëzit në luftë se ç’i shpunë Jefte e Gideon,
E të gjithë muarrën arratinë, Gibonitë e Amonitë,
Bëmë e Herkulit ndodhi aty, në luginën Bass;
Me nofull gomari njëmijë të vrarë Samsoni la pas;
E kur u verbua, Tempullin rrafshoi nga dhéu,
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergj dragoit shpinën ia theu
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Valentin e Orson gjak të Pepinit kishin në vena, bënin hata,
Alfred e Aldrikus kalorës kreshnikë qenë, plot bëma të mëdha;
Katër bijtë e Amonit me Karlin e Madh luftuan,
Fisniku Hugh i Byrdosë dhe Godfrej i Bujonit,
Të tërë kalorës frëngj qenë, paganëve fenë ua ndryshuan;
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji zemrën ia shkuli dragoit,
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Henri V, Francën nën këmbë e vuri, e pushtoi,
E duke marshuar plot lavdi, krejt armët ia dërrmoi,
Shembi kala, shembi e shkretoi mbarë qytete,
Kurorë të dyfishtë e trefishtë në krye vu mbi vete,
Frëngjit i theu e në dhé të vet u kthye krenar pa njohur tutë
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji, e bëri dragoin qingj të urtë
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Shën Davidi, siç e dini, djathë të shkrirë e preshin do,
E Jasoni ish ai që bashkën e artë e solli, kërkuar ngado;
E Patriku – mirë e dini -, Shën Gjergjit i shërbeu,
E, para se t’ia vjedhë, plot shtatë mote kalin ia ruajti, ia ushqeu,
Për këtë vepër aq të ndyrë, skllav mbet, e skllav të tillë askund nuk has;
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji Dragoin goditi, e vrau,
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Tamberlani, perandori, brenda në kafaz kurorëzuar,
Flamuj të përgjakur shpaloste qytete më qytet të rrënuar;
Skanderbegun e madh, Pasha Muhameti frikë e kish,
Eshtrat e tij fitimtare, hajmali u bënë si u varros në kishë;
Bejlerbegët e tij mbi krye mbanin brirët e dhisë, tek e quanin Gjergj Kastriot;
Po Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji Dragoin coptoi atë mot,
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Otamon Tartari nga racë e Persëve ish,
Mongoli i madh gjoksin gjithë hekur dhe gozhdë e kish;
I riu grek Bucefalin kalëronte gjithë krenari,
Por ata nëntë kreshnikët Shën Gjergji i shihte me qesëndi;
Gustav Adolfi, i Suedisë ishte mbret, luftëtar i rreptë, të tërë i theu,
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji, bishtin plot helm Dragoit ia preu,
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Poldragon e Cadwallader, për gjakun anglez ishin krenarë,
Por edhe pse Xhon i Gandit armiqtë i tmerroi, veç Shën Gjergji triumfoi;
Agamemnoni, Klemedoni e Maqedoni bënë tërë ato kreshnikëri,
Por përmbi ta, veç kampioni ynë shkëlqeu në trimëri;
Kalorësit guximtarë të Maltës, në luftë me turqit, shpatat i vringëllinë,
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji, me Dragoin u ndesh, aty në shesh;
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, përjetë mallkuar qoftë, siç e nisi.

Amazona Bidia, me bëmën e vet, Poetusin e mposhti, pa njohur tutë,
Me po aq egërsi sa një vandal, got, saraçin e çifut,
Të fuqishmit Holofernus, nderur në shtrat,
E urta Judit, kokën ia fluturoi me shpatë,
Trimi Qiklop me Jupterin u ndesh pa pyetur për rrufetë e tij,
Por Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji e vrau Dragoin, a s’është kjo një mrekulli?
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

Që Mark Antoni u ndesh me mbretëreshë të Egjiptit, s’ka dyshim,
Sir Eglamori, ky kalorës kreshnik, s’kish njohur dështim;
Fuqi e Gorgonës kish marrë dhenë, e plakun Bevis kush nuk e kish frikë,
Mirmidonët e Prester Xhonët, përse vallë s’u njohën kalorës fisnikë?
Trimi Spinola qytetin Breda shtiu në dorë, Nassau, krahët ia mbuloi,
Po Shën Gjergji, Shën Gjergji Dragoin e dërrmoi,
Shën Gjergji qe për Anglinë, për Francën Shën Denisi,
Kush keq mendon, mallkuar përjetë qoftë, siç e nisi.

I once vowed to keep this blog free from opinions that could be construed as political, but there is one pertinent issue that has really grabbed my attention. Now before you all decry me as a political puppet, or as being paid by whichever political party or figure you think I am agreeing with, stop and actually take in what I am writing. I am not, have never been, and never will be affiliated with any political party in this country, but as far as I am concerned, this is an issue that transcends political agenda. To me, this is an issue that represents a possible precedent that if set, will trigger a chain of events that will have a devastating impact on the rich cultural tapestry of this fine country. As a writer, a creative, an Albaniophile, and a lover of art, history, and heritage, I feel it is my duty as an individual to stand up and have my say.

Photo: A tribute to Kofi Annan, from his family. In Photo Kofi Annan with his loving family

The state funeral ceremony of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was held in his homeland Ghana on September 13. Several political dignitaries, world leaders and senior officials including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres were in attendance at the state funeral. Thousands of people filled a large hall in the capital of the Accra country, where Kofi Anan coffin was wrapped in a national flag. In his speech, Secretary General Antonio Guterres conveyed the qualities of Annan as “an extraordinary leader” and “also a man that everyone in the world, those living in extreme poverty, conflict and despondency, could see in him an ally. To the United Nations staff who continues in his footsteps and to the young people, he would say: always remember, you are never too young to lead and you are never too old to learn. ”

Kofi Annan led the United Nations organization from January 1997 to December 2006. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with the United Nations in 2001, for “their work for a more organized and peaceful world”. As the leading figure of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, the 7th Secretary General, Kofi Annan became subject of criticism for failing to do enough to prevent the deaths of 800,000 Rwandans during the 1994 genocide and thousands of Muslim men and boys killed in the Srebrenica massacre, Bosnia.

On August 22, at the memorial service held at the United Nation’s New York Headquarters, Secretary-General António Guterres signed the condolence book for Kofi A. Annan and paid tribute to the leadership of the former Secretary-General. A career diplomat and a long term high-ranking official of the organization, Annan encompassed an informed wisdom, considerable experience and an optimistic vision for the future. “DIELLI” is providing some excerpts from Mr. Guterres’ remarks to its readers:

“…Kofi Annan, one of the best of us, a man who embodied the United Nation’s values and made us all proud to call ourselves his colleagues. This is a personal loss for many of us. It is difficult to imagine what a blow it must be to his wife and to his family. Our hearts go out to them. We know how much Kofi meant to the world. I would like to say a few words about what he meant to all of us who work for the United Nations. Kofi Annan’s years in office were an exciting time. He put forward new ideas. He brought new people into the United Nations family. He spoke passionately about our mission and our role. He created a renewed sense of possibility both inside and outside our organization about what the UN could do and could be for the world’s people. Because of his long and varied career in different offices and departments, it sometimes seemed as though Kofi knew everyone personally. But even staff members who never met him, felt a bond with Kofi because he was really one of us.

….in many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. His most defining features were his humanity and solidarity with those in need. He put people at the center of the work at the United Nations and was able to turn compassion into action across the UN system. We are still reaping the rewards of the millennium summit when he brought the world together to tackle the first global targets of poverty and child mortality. His response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic united governments, non-government organizations and the healthcare industry and undoubtedly saved many lives.

And Kofi Annan faced up to the grave errors made by the United Nations in the 90’s in its response to the Rwanda Genocide and Srebrenica killings by shining a light inside the UN. The reports he commissioned aimed to make sure such terrible mistakes are never repeated and set the international community on a new course in its response to mass atrocities. A true voice for the voiceless, he did not shy away from the most challenging issues but worked creatively to bridge differences and protect the most vulnerable. He stood his ground without antagonizing others. His humility, good humor, courtesy and charm went hand in hand with enormous wisdom and strength. He will always remain vivid in my memory for as long as I live, but not essentially because of the fact that he was an extraordinary statesman, a remarkable diplomat, an inspiring leader, but above all because of his gentleness, of his warmth, of his friendship. He was indeed a good man and a gentleman. And always at our disposal, to support us, to comfort us, to be in full solidarity with us in any difficult moment. Perhaps we can best honor his legacy by recalling his own words delivered at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and I quote, “Securing real and lasting improvement in the lives of individual men and women is the measure of all we do at the United Nations.”

In these times of growing political divides and intractable conflicts, we need the peacemaking spirit of Kofi Annan more than ever.

After Mr. Guterres speech, Ghana’s Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee made her remarks after signing the condolence book. Expressing the pride of a nation for its son, she stated that Mr. Annan was Ghana’s gift to the world.

Kofi Annan and Kosovo – “there are times when the use of force may be legitimate in the pursuit of peace” 1999

As Albanians, we are reminded of his position and role at a critical point of our history, namely, the Kosova war. In 1999, UN Member States led by United States as well as NATO launched a campaign of strikes on Serbia without Security Council authorization. In his statement at the First Peace Conference at the Hague, Mr. Annan conveyed that the renewal of effectiveness and relevance of the Security Council must be the cornerstone of international peace. He raised a question, if Europe at the end of the century can still witness the crimes of Kosovo, “can we be justified in speaking at all of human progress?” In the face of such terrors, such as mass killings and genocide, he said, it is hard not to lose faith in humanity altogether. Mr. Annan criticized the NATO bombing, but recognized that such regional approaches — which lack the worldwide credibility of U.N.-endorsed actions — are bound to continue as long as the Security Council cannot unite.” Then, Secretary General Annan presented the case of Kosovo to address the conflict between the domestic interest and the international security as a major impediment of the Security Council’s role as a peacemaker. “For this much is clear: unless the Security Council is restored to its preeminent position as the sole source of legitimacy on the use of force, we are on a dangerous path to anarchy. But equally importantly, unless the Security Council can unite around the aim of confronting massive human rights violations and crimes against humanity on the scale of Kosovo, then we will betray the very ideals that inspired the founding of the United Nations.” Ever attentive to the lessons that need to be learned, Mr. Annan advised in favor of a “new, more broadly defined, more widely conceived definition of national interest in the new century, which would unite the states in the pursuit of such basic Charter values as democracy, pluralism, human rights and the rule of law.”

Mr. Kofi Annan was the 7th Secretary General of the UN and the first leader of the organization from an African nation.

He admittedly preferred to quote an African proverb that says:

“The world is not ours…. It’s a treasure we hold in trust for future generations.”

To that, he added his own wisdom:

“And I often hope we will be worthy of that trust.”

– New York, 2016

Greetings, Mr. Ambassador! I am glad to have the opportunity to meet and talk with you.

January 2016 marked the 17^th anniversary of the Reçak massacre, where as Head of the Kosovo Verification Mission, you were the first to denounce it as a massacre and make it clear to the world that crimes against humanity were being committed by Serbian forces. What are your feelings about the atrocious crimes and events, many years later?

Ambassador William Walker: I still remember the horror of going into the village of Recak, on a very cold winter day. I saw bodies of the men and boys of the village, who had been killed the night before. It’s hard to forget something like that.

I go back to Kosova, to the anniversary memorial service every year that I can, and still feel the emotions I had that day. What I said, was the simple truth – it was what I saw. If that got the world to concentrate on what was happening in Kosova, that is great.

During the 1998-1999 war, the women of Kosova were also subjected to violence by Serbian forces, as there are more than 20,000 cases of rape. Can we touch upon the terror women had to live through, how the war impacted their lives and the consequences they have to live with to this day?

Ambassador William Walker: I am glad you mention that. Consequences of the war on the women of Kosova were very, very grave. There is a book written by a woman there, on the experiences of women during the war in Kosova. It deals with women being very badly treated and being raped. The author had it translated into English and I wrote an intro to the book, because I think it’s a very important and powerful description of what happened to the women of Kosova at the hands of the Serbs. And as you say, there are consequences to this day. There are children that were born of these rapes, women whose lives were absolutely ruined by what happened to them.

I am also pleased to say that the women of Kosova are very strong. Every time I go there, I see evidence of that. I see women going into politics and doing all sorts of things that maybe before and certainly during the war, they wouldn’t have done.

When I first went back to Kosova after the war, and went to some of the villages, the Mayor of Prishtina put at my service a young female interpreter. She was a very timid young lady who married at 16, through an arranged marriage, and had two children of whom she was very proud. She would interpret for me at the meetings we had, where the entire village would come “to talk to Walker”. The men of the village would then invite me back and I told them I would come back the next time, only if those women who are in the back of the room, are brought up front.

My interpreter and I talked a lot as we went around the villages for several days. I encouraged her to do something else with her career besides working in the Mayor’s office. The next time I visited Kosova, she was going to the university and the time after that, she had a good job. She went on to become one of the principle women of the parliament with Ramush Haradinaj’s party. Unfortunately, during a recent riot in the parliament, Donika threw tear gas at the governing coalition. She is a very strong woman.

During your visit in Kosova, on the occasion of the 17^th anniversary of the Reçak massacre, you were honored with the “Shkelzen Haradinaj” award, as well as declared an Honorary Citizen. What does this mean to you?

Ambassador William Walker:  It is a great honor. I think they have named a street after me and the government is also building a statue for me out by Reçak. Government officials as well as myself put some cement at the place they have designated for the statue.

Have you had the opportunity to visit Mitrovica and the tower of the Boletini family?

Ambassador William Walker: I have not visited the Boletini Tower but was last in Mitrovica about 4-5 years ago. Unfortunately, that is another terrible situation….

You have stated in the past, that the establishment of a special court to investigate crimes allegedly committed by members of the Kosova Liberation Army, was unnecessary. Is it your impression that this statement was taken into account by the internationals?

Ambassador William Walker: Yes, I have voiced objections to the concept that Kosova needs special courts. If the international community has helped establish the justice system, they should have confidence in the justice system, instead of looking for something else to really bring justice.

I am in favor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague. I went and was one of the principal witnesses against Milosevic. I talked at great length about Reçak and some of the other things I saw in Kosova. I am sorry that each trial takes 3-4 years.

Do you believe that the establishment of this new court comes as a consequence of Dick Martin’s and Carla Del Ponte’s accusations, which may have negatively influenced the international community against Albanians?

Ambassador William Walker: I really don’t know. Things happen in mysterious ways. My feeling is that the European Union, the international community, somehow feel that more should be done and they must show unevenness that a number of Serb war criminals were in fact tried and convicted. The one I was involved in, was Nikola Sainovic, who is a really bad man and was convicted. The internationals may think we have to have a special court to try Kosovars. Totally unnecessary!

Vojislav Seselj was recently found not guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague. Do you agree with the Tribunal’s decision?

Ambassador William Walker: I am particularly upset that one of the major war criminals from Serbia was acquitted. Seselj is, was and remains one of the most radical voices of Serb nationalism, which is exactly what led so many young Serbs to go into Kosova and do the horrible things they did. So I think he is very responsible for what happened. He is not a nice man. Sending him back to Serbia to be a hero and continue his vicious ways, of course I think the court made a big mistake. I understand there is an appeal and maybe three years from now there will be another decision.

Thank you!

Michael Gove, UK Justice Minister and Brexit campaign leader, proclaimed that after a successful leave vote, the UK could trade with the EU/Single Market like the three impoverished countries of “Bosnia, Serbia and Albania.” These western Balkan countries are EU candidate states and have a constricting free trade agreement with the bloc covering certain goods and some financial services.

Brussels sees these bilateral pacts, known as “stabilisation and association agreements” (SAAs), as special support for post-communist transition economies at the start of a long journey towards EU membership, rather than a divorce settlement for an integrated and developed one. Yet the SAA is a sui-generis or unique relationship between the Single Market and the EU candidate states in the Western Balkans, therefore, it has created the precedent of being able to trade goods with the Single Market without membership.

Only a seasoned Tory MP like Mr Gove was shrewd enough to seize on this valid precedent. It might go down well with the UK business community because it demonstrates that you do not need to pay the hefty EU membership fee to trade goods. It should be looked at more carefully as it does have elements of an “alternative model” for a Brexit vis-a-vis joining the European Economic Area with Switzerland and Norway who semi-automatically apply EU law, accepts free movement and pays into the EU budget.

Mr Gove’s remarks have drawn scorn with pundits and pro-EU opponents considering the apparent reference of the “Albanian model” as a “tactical blunder”, “crazy”, and “strange and absurd”.

Even Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, offered his op-ed to the Times, saying that “It’s absurd to drag Albania into the battle for Brexit”. In an attempt to “roll with the punches”, Rama went on to thank Gove for giving Albania a welcomed dose of publicity before the summer holidays and to invest (I guess being ridiculed is better than being ignored?).

Everyone knows it’s erroneous to compare any of the Western Balkan countries with the United Kingdom. Moreover, the SSA is a quasi-developmental trade deal so it won’t suit the needs of a cosmopolitan nation like the British. For example, Albanians, Bosnians and Serbs are not allowed to move freely and settle in the EU. Tony Barber’s sarcastic comparison of the Albanian post-communist exodus (1.25 million Albanians, almost a quarter of the population) to the two million Brits living and working in the EU was classless and unnecessary.

Evidently, these countries are just bad models in every aspect of governance, politics and the rule of law. But wasn’t Gove merely referring to the relationship that EU candidate states like Albania and Serbia have with the EU, and the precedent created by the SAAs? I was also surprised that critics have focused predominantly on Gove’s suggestion of following an “Albanian model”, pitilessly pointing out how absurd any comparison is. I’m puzzled why they did not call it the “Albanian precedent”? What about the “Bosnian model”?

Reading all the witty reactions I doubt if Britain and Albania are mutually exclusive? What do Brits really know about Albania and Albanians? British literary giants such as Shakespeare, Gladstone, Disraeli, Byron, Eduard Lear, and Edith Durham have all portrayed Albania. In the 19th Century, Byron and great painters such as Lear and Leon Jérôme, presented European chancelleries with noble views of proud and dignified Albanians.

Despite this, perceptions today towards the Western Balkans and Albania in particular are largely at odds with Byron’s romantic representation. Instead, Brits are uneasy with the idea of these countries joining the EU and view the culture at odds with their own, at least to a certain extent. Who can blame them, positive stories do not translate into popular culture as easily as the hit movie Taken. Albania is still considered an unworthy European state by most EU members.

It is true that the issue of the form of the state and its substance may not yet have an adequate policy and certainly not productive political culture in both Albania and Kosovo. However, this does not hinder the trend for progressive development in the future. It’s imperative that thepost-communist Albanian elite understands that aside from the political and economic dimensions of EU integration, the cultural integration is mission critical. This is because the dissolution of prejudice is the first step that leads to recognition.

Mr Gove, may I humbly suggest that it could be time to recognise that the best “Brexit model” could just be the “Bremain model” – in other words, the existing “UK model” with opt-outs in the EU. After all, being part of the EU/Single Market but not of the Schengen and the Eurozone looks like an excellent deal to most member states who are obliged to join all the pillars of our Union.  Outgoing US President Barack Obama was perhaps correct to warn that it would be “a big mistake for Britain to leave the EU and set asunder what has been a very successful relationship”.

It makes sense that the President of a more successful union (USA) weighs in favor of unity of another incomplete Union (EU). I say the EU is incomplete because it still does not have a fiscal dimension, and it’s missing a key portion of the European jigsaw puzzle – the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia.

Epidamn Zeqo holds an MSc in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics and a dual MA in International Relations and Modern History from the University of St. Andrews. A native of Albania, he lives and works in London.

TALLOIRES, France — For much of the 20th century Russia was a revolutionary state whose objective was the global spread of communist ideology. In the 21st century it has become the preeminent counterrevolutionary power.

The escalating conflict between the West and Moscow has been portrayed as political, military and economic. It is in fact deeper than that. It is cultural. President Vladimir Putin has set himself up as the guardian of an absolutist culture against what Russia sees as the predatory and relativist culture of the West.

To listen to pro-Putin Russian intellectuals these days is to be subjected to a litany of complaints about the “revolutionary” West, with its irreligious embrace of same-sex marriage, radical feminism, euthanasia, homosexuality and other manifestations of “decadence.” It is to be told that the West loses no opportunity to globalize these “subversive” values, often under cover of democracy promotion and human rights.

Putin’s Russia, by contrast, is portrayed in these accounts as a proud bulwark against the West’s abandonment of religious values, a nation increasingly devout in its observance of Orthodox Christianity, a country convinced that no civilization ever survived by “relativizing” sacred truths.

Beyond Putin’s annexation of Crimea and stirring-up of a small war in eastern Ukraine (although large enough to leave more than 6,000 dead), it is this decision to adopt cultural defiance of the West that suggests the confrontation with Russia will last decades. Communism was a global ideology; Putinism is less than that. But a war of ideas has begun in which counterrevolution against the godless and insinuating West is a cornerstone of Russian ideology. To some degree, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey shares Putin’s view of the West. China, meanwhile, finds uses in it.

Gone is the post-Cold War illusion of benign convergence through interdependence. Something fundamental has shifted that goes far beyond a quarrel over territory. Putin has decided to define his power in conflict with the West. The only question is whether he has limited or all-out conflict in mind.

This Russian decision has strategic implications the West is only beginning to digest. It involves an eastward pivot more substantial than President Obama’s to Asia. Putin is now more interested in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose core is China and Russia, than he is in cooperation with the G-8 (from which Russia has been suspended) or the European Union.

China reciprocates this interest to some degree because a Moscow hostile to the West is useful for the defense of its own authoritarian political model and because it sees economic opportunity in Russia and former Soviet Central Asian countries. But China’s fierce modernizing drive cannot be accomplished through backward-looking Russia. There are clear limits to the current Chinese-Russian rapprochement.

As a senior European official attending a conference organized by Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs put it, Russia’s is a “loser’s challenge” to the West, because it has given up on modernization and globalization, whereas China’s is potentially a “winner’s challenge,” because it is betting everything on a high-tech, modern economy.

Of course, being irrational and quixotic, losers’ challenges are particularly dangerous. Putin has gobbled a chunk of Ukraine after it pursued a trade pact with the European Union. He has said he’s adding 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles to Russia’s stockpile. He has increased flights of nuclear-capable bombers. The message is clear: We’re leaning in on nukes.

How should the West respond? It cannot alter the appeal of its values to the world — witness the hordes of people dying in the attempt to get into the European Union. (Rich Russians have also been pouring into the West in search of the rule of law.) So what Russia sees as Western “subversion” (like the tilt of sane Ukrainians toward Europe) will continue — and it should.

The West must protect the right of peoples in the East-West in-between lands. The citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and other states have the right to attain Western prosperity through Western institutions if they so choose. Poland and the Baltic states, now protected by membership of NATO, are inevitably magnets to them.

This new protection should borrow from the policies behind Cold War protection of Germany: firmness allied to dialogue. The West, in the words of Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s defense minister, has been “excessive” in its caution. Holding NATO exercises in Latvia, creating a new 5,000-strong rapid-reaction NATO “spearhead force,” and moving 250 tanks and other equipment into temporary bases in six East European nations is something. But the permanent and significant deployment of heavy weapons in the region is needed to send a message to Putin, as is greater European defense spending, and a clear commitment to maintain sanctions as long as Ukraine is not made whole with full control of its borders.

In the end, the very Western ideas and institutions Putin demeans will be the West’s greatest strength in the long looming struggle against Russian counterrevolution.

Shpend Limoni at Pristina daily Gazeta Express asked some questions this morning about the defeat in the Kosovo parliament of the much-discussed proposal for a special court to prosecute some war crimes cases. Here in English are his questions and my replies:

Q: Kosovo rejected the creation of Special Court on yesterday’s vote in Parliament. US Ambassador Samantha Power a couple of days ago said that this issue would be a test for Kosovo leader’s credibility. Is there any consequence that Kosovo will face in the future?

A: Yes. At the very least, Kosovo will be seen as unwilling to administer justice to those who sullied the reputation of the Kosovo Liberation Army by committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and murder. For a country seeking international recognition and acceptance, that is not good.

There is nothing patriotic about such crimes—a Kosovo patriot should want to see the perpetrators brought to justice.

I hasten to add that it is not easy to do that. It is still too difficult for the Kosovo judicial system, which in any event has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Albania. There is no realistic possibility of a serious prosecution in Kosovo.

Q: Prime Minister Mustafa and his Deputy Hashim Thaçi said that issue of Special Court would be on Kosovo Assembly agenda soon rejecting the creation of Tribunal by UN. Is it to late for Mustafa and Thaçi?

A: My understanding is that the constitutional amendment required failed to get a two-thirds majority by just five votes. That could change tomorrow if the political will can be found.

Q: US ambassador in Prishtina Tracey Ann Jacobson on here first reaction said that US won’t put veto against initiatives to establish a Tribunal under UN mandate. Do you think such Tribunal will be imposed?

A: Foreign Minister Thaçi said it well in Parliament: “We have two options: to create this court ourselves, together with the EU and U.S., and to end this issue once and for all in three to five years; or we fail and it will go to the U.N. Security Council where the court will be created by the opponents of Kosovo independence and will last 15 to 20 years.”

The sad fact is that Kosovo in the future will find it difficult to get many kinds of help from the US and EU if this decision stands.