The coincidence of a refugee tragedy at sea and endorsement of an international humanitarian aid force over the weekend has dramatised Albania's plight as it struggles to recover from political and economic collapse. While several elements of a rehabilitation effort have been put in place the most crucial of them, how to rebuild its structures of political and economic leadership, remains uncertain. Unless it is rapidly clarified international humanitarian efforts are likely to come to naught.
The mandate for humanitarian aid agreed by the United Nations Security Council and endorsed yesterday by Albania's parliament is limited in scope and timing. It will facilitate distribution of international assistance and protect aid centres from armed groups. The multinational force, drawn from Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Turkey and Romania, is mandated for three months. It will attempt to lay the foundations of a more secure environment for future international assistance and domestic recovery.
The Adriatic refugee tragedy tells its own story of why action is so urgently required to alleviate Albania's collapse. Such desperate flight by thousands of people cannot be sustained indefinitely by its neighbours. Each of the states contributing troops to the international force has some regional interest in doing so; it is better by far to have their intervention regulated by the Security Council than to have them respond on a case by case bilateral basis driven by their own narrow interests. Both the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co operation in Europe have played useful and constructive roles.
The time has now come for another effort to clarify and resolve the political, security and economic crisis that has driven Albania into such disintegration. President Sali Berisha has refused to relinquish power, despite the formation of a national government and his pledge to resign should his party lose the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Unfortunately, the credibility of these elections remains gravely suspect as long as so many Albanians continue to brandish the arms seized after the collapse of the armed forces. Political competition can so easily roll over in these circumstances into prolonged civil war.
Some means must therefore be found to tackle the main cause of the country's disintegration - the collapse of the pyramid schemes in which so many of its people have lost their savings. It will be necessary to combine political rehabilitation and reconstruction of Albania's security as a first step along this road. But it is difficult to see such an approach taking root if these tasks are not accompanied by an international effort to restore economic structures and give people hope that they may recover some at least of what they have lost.
If the political stability of Albania deserves such an international effort, so does its economic rehabilitation. It should not be beyond the ingenuity of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union to come up with plans along these lines during the mandate of this international force. It might well be possible to match the handing in of weapons to efforts to recover lost savings. This would link political, security and economic recovery to international assistance.