The axes that pass through the Tent

The axes that pass through the Tent
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By Frrok Çupi

Tomorrow, if not this afternoon, someone will certainly arrive in Tirana to say good things on the “EU bureaucrats”. Someone else was here yesterday or the day before… Because today, the Freedom Tent, the name given to the opposition’s tent, was addressed by Szolt Nemeth-an unknown name, with a very small biography on Wikipedia. Perhaps less known than Fleckenstein, Mogherini or Kukan…

Szolt Nemeth is a senior Hungarian politician, chairman of the Foreign Parliamentary Committee and he has also been secretary of state for Foreign Affairs. In his country, he has offered a significant contribution in the fight against communism. Today, he said from the tent that “the corruption of the international communist is the next worst thing after communism”.

The fact that the three “administrators” that I mentioned at the beginning are better known than Mr. Nemeth from Hungary, makes me realize how things are divided: Those who have roots in the continent’s institutions and the “others”. The “others” include the other half of the World which is attempting to change direction and perhaps, the speed of development. The new wind of change has started with Brexit, with the victory of Donald Trump and now with the developments in Europe. Since June 2016, when Brexit was voted, the camps started to move fast; the old camp which believed in “nothing else” but itself and the camp which is coming, the one who is in front so many things that need to be changed. Now, some belong to one period and some to the other.

There’s no reason why we cannot say out loud what the most brilliant minds in the world are thinking everyday: The world is divided by a line, the same as in the period of the communist dictatorship or other major events which have left their mark in history. Who will win? This is something else. Is it not strange that several axes pass here in Tirana, where the two worlds are divided? The Opposition’s protest, which is known by the name “Tent”, is not something that came as a surprise. Because of it, world missionaries who want the status quo and those who want the change, are coming to Tirana every day.

Which axes pass through here?

1.Not only the “classic” East-West axes.

These don’t seem to exist any longer, perhaps because great divisions have been created within the same species. Both East and West now exist within Western Europe. Not only because a large part of EU senior officials have served in the communist parties of the East during their youth. This is one thing. But, the different behaviors within the species have caused a “division”. The old establishment of the governments has created a suffocating bureaucracy; governments that make promise, but which do not work; arrogance of the people in power; the opening of borders; payments made to crime and terror, making the people feel unsafe… This is one side… But what does this have to do with Tirana? Political elites are being abandoned by people all over Europe; the English chose Brexit, while others followed other routes. The Poles found a way not to pay heavy taxes about massive emigration; Hungarians chose to build walls and segregated villages for refugees… Not being very comfortable in their countries, the elites have moved to the Eastern part of the West of Europe and are trying to preserve the status quo in the name of the EU. But does the EU have the EU that we knew? This is exactly what the axes that “pass” through the Tent divide: what we thought it was and what it is in reality.

  1. The two axes that divide two unsafe worlds:

Nobody can say if the winner will be “populist” conservatism–as they’re calling the new wave which is blowing in the West–or if the old wave of demagogic governments will continue to remain for a little longer. It is a difficult battle. The current system has accumulated endless resources and influences. Look at the EU leaders: In just one day, the EU increases the bill to the UK by 40 billion euros; two days ago it was 60 billion, while yesterday it was 100 billion euros. The system of power that “can do whatever it likes” ruined the European Union and its civilization. An EU ambassador in Tirana buys a villa at a price of almost 2 million euros, four times more than its actual value. A former minister in the German government, who is under investigation for money laundering, becomes a middleman of the Albanian drugs in the German Bundestag. The government’s war against the Tent, here in the country, has the same motives: To hold on to the wealth that has been illegally acquired, to preserve the drug plantations and traffic routes; to preserve the connections that it has with the “EU mob”, like the Brexit leader Nigel Farage put it. Can the opposition win against this great “power”? People from other planets should come for this… But the Protest (the Tent) is the place where these axes pass.

  1. And in the end, the classical axes:

Surprisingly, Tirana has become like 1914 Sarajevo, where the East was divided from the West. If the “Tent” wins, then the western investment is clearer. There are no implications here; the Tent is on the side of the United States led by president Trump. Meanwhile, a war is taking place on the opposite side: The government has warned several times that it will follow Moscow. The close government connections with Serbia resulted in a “conflict” and an imposition by Belgrade. In Macedonia there is an open conflict where the Albanian government has been involved like a political group and as part of the Soros family. Greece has been “abandoned” due to our fraternity with Turkey. Turkey has entered here as a model of autocratic power and religious domination. If the Tent doesn’t win, then the divisive lines with Russia, Turkey, Syria, Ukraine remain suspicious. What’s more, the government has been declared since the very beginning as an opponent of the Trump phenomenon in the world.

But even if the Tent doesn’t win, it has determined “who is supporting whom”. It looks as if the Tent has been set up to say: “We’re watching where you’re going”.

The republication of this article is strictly forbidden without a written permission from the Albanian Free Press newsroom

Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy.

 

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