Albanian-Yugoslav Relations in the International Optics

AuthorOrnela Shameti
PositionUniversity of Tirana, Albania
Pages119-124
Vo
l.
6
N
o
. 1
M
arch, 2020
ISS
N 2410-391
8
A
cces on
l
ine at www.ii
p
cc
l
.or
g
11
9
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Sciences
II
PCCL Publishin
g
, Graz-
A
ustria
Albanian-Yu
g
oslav Relations in the International Optics
.
rn
l
h
m
t
U
niversity o
f
Tirana,
A
lbania
Ab
str
a
ct
A
lbania has always been a country with an important geostrategic position, which has always
b
een overseen by interested
E
astern and Western blocs for their own interests. The foreign
p
olicy of the
A
lbanian government, even in 1947, was largely determined by the di cult
d
evelopments of general international politics that were imposed on the Balkans and beyond
a
t that time. This policy, in relation to the
A
lbanian issue, was mainly characterized by two
m
oments. First, the claims o
f
the neighboring states, primarily
Y
ugoslavia and Greece, each
claiming to control the situation in
A
lbania, and thus imposing its own policy of interfering in
the internal a
airs o
f
A
lbanian society. Second, re
ections o
f
the ideological Cold War between
the two blocs West and
E
ast, which in those years had acquired new elements of agitation. This
i
rritation, not only ideological but also military between the West and the
E
ast, in the case o
f
A
lbania was re ected in the open geostrategic claims of the world superpowers of that time.
Ke
y
words:
A
lbania,
Y
u
g
oslavia,
E
astern and Western Blocs, Geostrate
g
ic claims
.
I
ntr
odu
ct
io
n
A
t the end o
f
World War
II
,
A
lbania's international
p
osition and interstate coo
p
eration
w
as at a ver
y
low level. This tense situation arose not onl
y
f
rom the annexing
Y
ugoslav interests but also
f
rom the
f
act that the new
A
lbanian government emerged
f
rom the Berat
A
ssembl
y
did not have a good coo
p
eration with the Western allies,
w
hile working closel
y
with re
p
resentatives o
f
the established
Y
ugoslav and Russian
m
i
ss
io
ns
i
n
A
lb
a
n
ia
.
Given this,
A
lbania's
p
olitical orientation towards the socialist cam
p
was clearl
y
seen.
P
ostwar
Alb
anian
d
i
pl
omac
y
was at o
dd
s wit
h
t
h
e Western one,
d
ue to t
h
e socia
l
ist
o
rientation the countr
y
was taking. The decisions o
f
the Congress o
f
Permet, and later
of
the
A
ssembl
y
o
f
Berat, were o
pp
osed and rejected b
y
Western di
p
lomats because
the Communist government
f
ormed a
er the War b
y
the
A
nti-Fascist National
Liberation Front in
A
lbania was not recognized b
y
the
U
S and
E
ngland.
T
h
e
U
S,
E
ng
l
an
d
an
d
ot
h
er Western governments
h
a
d
ex
p
resse
d
interest in
c
oo
p
erating with the militar
y
and
p
olitical
f
orces in
A
lbania, as did the
E
nglishwoman
E
dit Durham, in a le er sent to Fan S.Nolit in June 1944, stating: "
If
the
A
lbanians can
p
resent t
h
e
U
nite
d
Front to t
h
e
All
ies an
d
d
ec
l
are t
h
eir wis
h
es o
p
en
ly
,
Alb
ania can
rise again as a
p
hoenix b
y
the
re and take the
p
lace o
f
nations” (Zogaj, 2015, 56)
.
A
mericans, with their militar
y
and
p
olitical
p
resence in
E
uro
p
e at the end o
f
W
orld War
II
, also show an interest in
f
uture develo
p
ments in
A
lbania. The
U
S State
De
p
artment had
p
re
p
ared instructions that, through the Sector
f
or Relations with
S
out
h
east
E
uro
p
e, s
h
ou
ld
b
e su
b
mi e
d
to t
h
e
I
n
d
e
p
en
d
ence Nationa
l
War(
I
NW) in
A
lbania.
I
t was ex
p
licitl
y
stated: "We must bear in mind that the
U
S has its interests

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