|
Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
|
 |
Albania: Too early for the 'big push'Albania is now enjoying one of the longest calm periods in its post-communist history. More than just a calmness, its government claims the country is on the fast track of catching up quickly with the other more developed East European countries. Especially the current anti-communist government makes enormous efforts of proving these are not just empty words. The efforts are present, but the results are still far from satisfactory. Albania is clearly in much better shape than at any other time since the fall of communism 15 years ago. It is however neither closing the gap with Eastern Europe nor showing signs it can make it within 10-15 years.
StateThe state itself is among the problems Albania faces. It's easy to call it corrupt, but this term doesn't reflect the real situation because it takes as granted the western concept of a state as 'an organization successfully claming monopoly on legitimate use of violence over a given territory'. Well, Albanian state has never claimed such monopoly with a brief exception of the communist past, but even then this monopoly wasn't enough to mobilize society for many major projects similar to the mass mobilization in Eastern Europe or in the former Soviet Union.Albanian state is weak. Family links sometimes are much more important for people's well being. According to some statistics as much as half of the economy operates outside the official realm of state authority. This means no taxation on half of the GDP. For some businesspersons this may be excellent news, but not for the population that counts on the state for revenues. Unemployed persons instead go abroad, retirees depend heavily on their children working abroad. This low level of security hurts the business, both domestic and foreign. On the other hand, people that don't pay taxes usually don't look for state protection. During the post-communist period Albanian state has tried, in vain for most of the time, to establish greater capacity toward society. Albanians have alternative sources of income, alternative sources of protection, alternative sources of everything, thus making the state weak, a mere middleman between the country and its foreign counterparts. This weakness may not hurt society at its current level of development, but it's quite insufficient if Albania hopes becoming a rich and well-regulated country.
ModernizationState weakness however doesn't stop the country from the path of moderate modernization, because there are many alternative channels for investment. Foreign capitals and working abroad workers' remittances are pouring into the country as never before. Anyone traveling along the seacoast may witness tremendous activity. Hundreds of hotels for different budgets are mushrooming. There is no state or municipal regulations to stop this construction hyper activity. Only business interests matter, and when they collide, the stronger party usually wins after a show of force.Unlike previous times, the new business elite is more profit-oriented than rent-oriented. This means that investors are looking for customers instead of monopolizing on rent extraction from society or on financial schemes. This is a huge step forward. No matter how deep the next economic crisis will be it will follow a normal business trajectory. It will be caused by high supply and low demand, not on changing governmental coalition.
EUAlbania is on a good track for becoming some day a EU member. In June it signed Stabilization and Association Agreement with the Union that will come into effect in 2007. In fact this agreement is a necessary intermediary step toward applying for membership, invitation for negotiation and ultimate membership. Even more spectacular is the fact that Albania signed this agreement before other countries from the region like Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.EU membership however will take some time. Right now Brussels is pulling brakes on new enlargements. This means that before invitation is sent to Albania for starting negotiations it may take years; the whole process of negotiations may take up to 10 years, so the earliest possible realistic date for membership will be around 2020.
NATOThe situation with NATO membership looks very similar. In November 2006 the alliance will send invitations for membership; among the current applicants from the Western Balkans only Croatia is considered as a candidate with real chances to join NATO by 2008. Albania still pays dearly for the fact that Serbia cannot solve its Kosovo problem; an autonomous region occupied by NATO in 1999, where the population is predominantly Albanian and local authorities seek sovereignty and international recognition. Once this problem is solved, and solved to the satisfaction of all parties, both Serbia and Albania may expect to be invited to join NATO.
Albania profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Albania.
|
See also:
