Analyst Andi Bushati said on tonight’s ‘Shock’ that the country’s historical figure, Ismail Qemali has turned into a myth and that the true story behind the Albanian Declaration of Independence, is not what has been commonly taught to us.
Bushati argued that Ismail Qemali and the Albanian political elite at the time ‘couldn’t even imagine Albania’s independence in their wildest dreams’.
According to him, the political cast at the time, could at most, only think about becoming an autonomous region under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire, but nothing wilder.
The analyst continued by saying that at that point, Albania’s independence wasn’t a political project or an initiative of the local political actors, but rather, it was a geostrategic calculation designed mainly by Austro-Hungary and very much less so, by Italy.
These two superpowers at the time were focused primarily on putting a halt to Serbia’s ambitions to claim parts of the Adriatic.
“Albania was being divided – Greeks were fighting for the Castle of Janina, the Montenegrins were fighting for the Castle of Shkodra, the Serbs had already taken over the entire vilayet of Kosovo and thus the entire existence of the Albanian land was in grave danger,” – said Bushati.
In addition, Bushati maintained that this side of history is never taught in schools, let alone shown in films.
On the other hand, analyst Baton Haxhiu called this ‘de-mythification’ of Ismail Qemali, possibly careless.
“What has gone down in history, is the act and gesture of Ismail Qemali, who regardless of everything, has followed a diplomatic path to at least have an independent Albanian something,” – said Haxhiu.
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