 | |
 Albania |  Russia |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Albania, Moscow | Embassy of Russia, Tirana |
The establishment of diplomatic relations between Albania and Russia happened on April 7, 1924. Both countries were also allies in theWarsaw Pact. Albania has anembassy in Moscow. Russia has anembassy in Tirana.
Both countries are full members of theOrganization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation,Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation (Albania is a member, while Russia is an observer state).
During theBalkan Wars (1912–1913),Albanians declared the independence of Albania from theOttoman Empire.[1][2]Austria-Hungary andItaly supported Albanian independence and one of their reasons for recognition was to halt the growth of Russian influence in the region.[1][2]Russia andFrance opposed Albanian aims due to their support forSerbia, and both backed their Balkan allies proposals for less territory and coast for the new borders of the Albanian state.[1][2]
Initially after Albania's liberation fromNazi occupation, Yugoslav advisors were extensively involved in Albanian affairs.[3]: 168 Joseph Stalin supportedYugoslav influence in Albania, but became concerned withJosip Broz Tito's ambition in the region.[3]: 168 Enver Hoxha flew in July 1947 toMoscow to conclude a trade agreement with the Soviet Union and engage in further negotiations withStalin.[4] Hoxha expressed strong support for Stalin during the 1948Tito-Stalin split.[3]: 168
In 1949, Albania joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon).[3]: 169 Tirana soon entered into trade agreements withPoland,Czechoslovakia,Hungary,Romania, and theSoviet Union.
Soviet support was important to Albania, which was predominantly rural and poor.[3]: 169 By the middle of the 1950s, Albania had received major loans from the USSR as well as other socialist countries.[3]: 169 Industrialization in Albania benefitted from Soviet technical assistance.[3]: 169 From the Soviet perspective, Albania's Soviet-assisted modernization would be a powerful example for the Third World.[3]: 169 The Soviet Union also sent Albania military advisers and built a submarine installation onSazan Island.
Albania's first university was modeled on the Soviet example.[3]: 169
After theSoviet-Yugoslav split, Albania andBulgaria were the only countries the Soviet Union could use to funnelmatériel to thecommunists fighting in Greece.[citation needed] What little strategic value Albania offered the Soviet Union, however, gradually shrank as nuclear arms technology developed.
Soviet PremierNikita Khrushchev's 1956 criticism of Stalin and efforts to restorethe USSR's relations with Yugoslavia created concern among Albanian leadership.[3]: 169 Albania refusedde-Stalinization.[3]: 170
Issues of Albania's development also caused strain with the USSR.[3]: 170 Soviet functionaries contended that their Albanian peers made planning errors and relied too heavily on Soviet aid.[3]: 170 Khrushchev's concept for Albanian development as an Eastern bloc agricultural supplier differed from Hoxha's plans, which envisioned Albania expanding itsheavy industry and developing oil refineries.[3]: 170
In May 1959, Khrushchev paid a visit toTirana in the first visit by a Russian leader to the country.[5] The 13-day visit was the first time since the war that a major world leader came on an official visit to Albania.[6] The goal of the visit was to pressure Albania into building Yugoslav–Albanian and Soviet–Albanian relations as well as, according to historian Miranda Vickers, "focus their economy on the growing ofcitrus fruits rather than concentrate on industrialization". Khrushchev also visited the ancient southern city ofButrint, where he remarked to Soviet Defense MinisterRodion Malinovsky "Look how marvelous this is! An idealbase for our submarines could be built here. These old things [reference to archaeological findings] should be dug up and thrown into the sea".[7] The visit was clouded by mutual mistrust, which resulted in Khrushchev's departure from Albania two days ahead of schedule.[8]
By 1960,relations between the USSR and China had substantially declined.[3]: 170 During theSino-Soviet Split, Albania supported thePeople's Republic of China. This isolated them from the Soviet leadership, and started theSoviet-Albanian split. In 1960, Albania declined to criticize China despite Soviet pressure, which resulted in praise from China and Hoxha becoming increasingly critical of the Soviet Union.[3]: 170 At a July 1960 plenum, Hoxha spoke against what he deemed as ideological mistakes by the Soviets.[3]: 170–171
Later in 1960, Hoxha described the Soviet ambassador to Albania as a saboteur and criticized Soviet leadership at a meeting of the communist parties in the Soviet Union.[3]: 171
Hoxha made working visits toMoscow in 1960 and 1961.[9]
Khrushchev criticized Albania duringCommunist Party of the Soviet Union's Twenty-Second Party Congress in October 1961.[3]: 171 Maintaining that Albania would not be subject to the Soviet Union, in November 1961, Hoxha famously stated that Albanians "would eat grass – if necessary – rather than sell themselves for thirty silverlings."[3]: 171 Khrushchev lambasted the Albanians for executing a pregnant, pro-Soviet member of theAlbanian Labor Party'sPolitburo, and the Soviet Union finally broke diplomatic relations with Albania in December. Moscow then withdrew all Soviet economic advisers and technicians from the country, including those at work on thePalace of Culture, and halted shipments of supplies and spare parts for equipment already in place in Albania. In addition, the Soviet Union continued to dismantle its naval installations on Sazan Island, a process that had begun even before the break in relations.
The split resulted in the loss of the Soviet Union's largest naval basePashaliman in southern Albania and the Mediterranean Sea.[10]
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China compensated Albania for the loss of Soviet economic support, by supplying about 90% of the parts, foodstuffs, and other goods the Soviet Union had promised. Beijing lent the Albanians money on more favorable terms than Moscow, and, unlike Soviet advisers, Chinese technicians earned the same low pay as Albanian workers and lived in similar housing. China also presented Albania with a powerful radio transmission station. For its part, Albania offered China a beachhead in Europe and acted as a partner at the UN. Chinese equipment and technicians were not as sophisticated as the Soviet goods and advisers they replaced. Because of language barriers, Chinese and Albanian technicians communicated in Russian. Albanians no longer took part in Warsaw Pact activities or Comecon agreements. The other East European communist nations, however, did not break diplomatic or trade links with Albania. In 1964 the Albanian seized empty Soviet embassy in Tirana, and Albanian workers pressed on with construction of the Palace of Culture on their own.
In October 1964, Hoxha hailed Khrushchev's fall from power, and the Soviet Union's new leaders made overtures to Tirana. It soon became clear, however, that the new Soviet leadership had no intention of changing basic policies to suit Albania, and relations failed to improve. Tirana's propaganda continued for decades to refer to Soviet officials as "treacherousrevisionists" and "traitors to communism," and in 1964 Hoxha said that Albania's terms for reconciliation were a Soviet apology to Albania and reparations for damages inflicted on the country. Soviet-Albanian relations dipped to new lows after theWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, when Albania responded by officially withdrawing from the alliance.
Sino-Albanian relations ended by 1978. Even with theSino-Albanian split, the Albanians refused to normalize relations with the Soviet Union, leaving their country virtually completely isolated from the outside world.
Albania and the Soviet Union reestablished relations in 1990,[10] when then foreign minister of the Soviet Union,Eduard Shevardnadze, asked Albania for forgiveness for his country's part of the guilt for breaking relations with Albania three decades earlier.[11][12] In April 1995, Albanian prime ministerAleksandër Meksi officially visited Moscow and signed a series of economic and political agreements.[10] In the 1990s, the staff at Russia's Albanian embassy was enlarged three times its previous size, due to the growth ofRussian intelligence operatives active in Albania.[13] Albania's close relations with theUS andNATO has served as other factors for Russian espionage by its agencies located in Tirana.[13]
During the 1990s, relations between post communist Russia and Albania remained strained due to conflicts in the Balkans.[10] Russia backedFR Yugoslavia and no efforts were made to advance better relations with Albania.[10]Paskal Milo, Albania's Foreign Minister visited Russia in 2000 and was subjected to attacks in the Russian media and in commentaries by Russian parliamentarians which Albania considered as "open threats" to its interests.[10] TheKosovo conflict increased tensions as Russian Foreign MinisterYevgeny Primakov sent a letter to the Albanian premier stating that the Albanian government needed to eradicate "Albanian terrorism" within Kosovo.[10] The Albanian government replied with a stern written letter to Russian allegations.[10]
Russian authorities view Albanians of the Balkans as being responsible for a majority of crime committed in the region.[14] For example, in 2002 when Russian Foreign MinisterIgor Ivanov, days before a visit to Albania, said that where Albanians are the dominant population, human trafficking and crime was prevalent.[14] In Albania, Ivanov in a meeting with Albanian authorities stated that the global network of Islamic terrorism ran from Afghanistan, through to Chechnya and ended with Albanian populations in Macedonia and Kosovo.[14] Albania viewed Russia's policy for Kosovo and Macedonia as attempts to form a Slavic-Orthodox axis.[14] As part of Russia's international disinformation efforts, it criticized Albania's stance on the Kosovo question and pressured Tirana to not seek close relations with Pristina.[14] Russia has alleged that Albania interferes in the internal affairs of Macedonia and Serbia, whereas Tirana is suspicious of Moscow's strong backing of Belgrade's policies.[14]
In the 2000s, Albania was not reliant on Russian based markets, energy or trade.[15] Russia viewed Albania eventually becoming part of its European energy network.[15] In 2000, both states made an announcement to begin discussions over a gas and oil pipeline for Albania and to grow investment and trade.[15] Russia also stated a preference to send electricity from its Unified Energy System to Albania.[15] In 2002, Albanian Foreign MinisterIlir Meta went to Moscow and both states agreed to create economic committees and sign agreements for agriculture and tackling crime.[15] The Chamber of Commerce of both countries signed a cooperation agreement.[15]
In Albania, Russia's standing is low among the Albanian population and as such it lacks opportunities to be active in shaping or influencing the outlook of local Albanians.[16] During the 2000s, Russia did not have any links with local Albanian political parties and was not able to undermine pro-Western governments through extreme political groups.[17] Due to crime and corruption in the Balkans, Russia has promoted an anti-Albanian stance where Albania is described as a hub of crime and diplomatic incidents have occurred.[17] For example, in 2002, the Albanian Foreign Ministry pushed back against statements from OSCE foreign monitors, some from Russia and calling themselves "Friends of Albania" who criticised Tirana for corruption and crime.[17]
Since the2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Russia has mainly backedSerbia. However the relations between the two countries begin to improve through the organizations they are a part of. Albania's ambassador to Russia as of November 2018 was Arben Gazioni, and Russia's ambassador to Albania was Alexander Karpushin. Within the wider Balkans Albania is considered to be the most pro-EU and pro-Western country in the region and unlike its neighbours (except Kosovo), it has little to negligible support forRussia.[18][19]
The Albanian government made two Russian diplomats leave Albania in 2018 on grounds that their actions were not in line with the diplomatic status allowed them in the country.[20][21] In January 2021, Albania expelled two Russian diplomats after repeated contraventions of Albanian governmentCOVID-19 lockdown measures.[20][21] Russia said Albania's move was politically motivated and responded in early February by expelling Albania's top diplomat in Moscow.[22]
In October 2021, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman,Maria Zakharova criticized the Albanian Prime MinisterEdi Rama for saying he aims at unifying Albania and Kosovo to form “Greater Albania”. Zakharova said the statement goes against long standing treaty and that could heighten tensions in the Balkan Region.[23]
Albania opposed the2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and its moves to destabilise eastern areas ofUkraine.[24] Albanian authorities were concerned with Russia's increasing deployment of its power and stated that the West needed to respond in a firm and unitary manner toward Russian actions in Ukraine.[24]
In mid-February 2022, Russian foreign ministerSergei Lavrov accused Albania and two other Balkan countries of sending mercenaries to fight for Ukraine in thewar in Donbas.[25] The claims were rejected by Albanian officials.[25]
As Russian military actions in Ukraine commenced, Albanian PresidentIlir Meta,[26] Prime MinisterEdi Rama,[27] Minister for Europe and Foreign AffairsOlta Xhaçka,[28] and Ambassador to the UNFerit Hoxha[29][30] made statements condemning theRussian invasion of Ukraine. Russia's recognition of the separatist regions in the Ukrainian Donbas as independent was condemned by Albania as a violation of the Minsk Protocol, international law and of Ukraine's statehood and borders.[31]
In late February 2022, Albania and the US tabled a co-written resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the 15 member UN Security Council, but failed to pass as Russia vetoed it.[32] At the UN Security Council, Albania cosponsored a resolution with the US for anemergency General Assembly session to be held regarding the invasion of Ukraine.[33][34] As it was a procedural vote, Russia's opposition did not effect the outcome and the resolution passed.[33][34] At the emergency General Assembly session, Albania voted in favour ofa resolution which successfully passed that condemned Russia's invasion and demanded its military withdrawal from Ukraine.[35]
Albania imposed sanctions on Russia targeting the political and business elite close to PresidentVladimir Putin, on sectors related to energy, finance, technology and transport, and denying airspace access to Russian aircraft.[36][37] The name of a Tirana street where the Russian embassy is located was changed to "Free Ukraine" by MayorErion Veliaj.[38][37] These actions led to Russia including Albania on its official list of "unfriendly countries".[39][40][41] Albania's honorary consulate inKharkiv was shelled and destroyed by Russian forces, there were no casualties as its staff had evacuated the building.[42][41][37]
In mid March, Albania and five other countries at the UN Security Council accused Russia of having committedwar crimes in Ukraine.[43] In Albania, President Meta, Foreign Minister Xhaçka and the Speaker of ParliamentLindita Nikolla all condemned Russia for theBucha massacre and called for an international response and independent investigation.[44] Albania voted for asuccessful UN General Assembly resolution to suspend Russia from theUN Human Rights Council.[45] In late September 2022, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution tabled by Albania and the US opposing theRussian annexation of occupied areas of Ukraine.[46]
In a declaration on 30 July 1990, the then foreign minister of the Soviet Union, Eduard Shevardnadze asked Albania for forgiveness for his country's part of the guilt for breaking relations with Albania three decades earlier.
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