Central and Eastern European Review
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CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN REVIEW Volume 10, 2016 REVIEWS ABOUT ALBANIA AND KOSOVO by Antonia Young University of Bradford, UK and Colgate University, NY ISSN 1752–7503 10.1515/caeer-2017-0003 © 2016 CEER First publication Central and Eastern European Review REVIEWS ABOUT ALBANIA AND KOSOVO By Antonia Young University of Bradford Fred C. Abrahams, Modern Albania: from dictatorship to democracy in Europe, New York University Press, New York and London: New York University Press, 2015. Pp. 345. ISBN: 978–l–4798–3809–7. Jana Arsovska, Decoding Albanian Organized Crime. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015. 289 pp. ISBN 978–0–520–28281–0. Blendi Fevziu, Enver Hoxha: the Iron Fist of Albania. London: I. B. Tauris, 2016. 300 pp. Nicola Guy, The Birth of Albania: Ethnic Nationalism: the Great Powers of World War I and the Emergence of Albanian Independence. London: I. B. Tauris, 2012. 338 pp . ISBN: 978–1–84885–368–3. Ina Merdjanova, Rediscovering the Umma: Muslims in the Balkans between Nationalism and Transnationalism. Oxford and New York: OUP, 2016. 198 pp. ISBN: 978–0–19–046250–5. Sabrina P. Ramet, Albert Simkus and Ola Listhaug (eds.). Civic and Uncivic Values in Kosovo: History, Politics and Value Transformation Budapest and New York: ECU Press, 2015. 449 pp. ISBN 978–963–386–073–1 Shannon Woodcock, Life is War: Surviving Dictatorship in Communist Albania. Bristol: Hammer/on Press, Bristol, England, 20l6. 223 pp. ISBN: 978–l–9l0849– 03–3. 62 Central and Eastern European Review Jana Arsovska, Decoding Albanian Organized Crime. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015. 289 pp. ISBN 978–0–520–28281–0. The Macedonian author was eleven years old when her country, Yugoslavia, was drawn into devastating conflict. Shortly after, Albania’s strict Stalinist regime crumbled and almost a quarter of its population emigrated in the following decade. Arsovska opened a café-bar in Macedonia in 2001, one of the most violent periods of the former Yugoslav republic. The enterprise only lasted for four months, since Arsovska became a victim of violence and extortion by local criminal groups. State protection was not strong enough to resolve the situation; however the experiences served Arsovska in her future career as a professor of international criminal justice, and author of this book which analyses the dynamic relationship between culture, politics and organized crime. There are 300,000 Gheg speakers in Albania, and 1.4m in Kosovo. Arsovska considers that Tosk speakers (in southern Albania) are viewed as better educated. This assessment may be due to the fact that Tosk was declared the official Albanian language under Communism in Albania, where their first University was founded, in Tirana, in 1957. However, in the centuries prior to that, the seat of Albanian intellectual life was Shkodër, Northern Albania, and Peja/Peć and Prizren in Western Kosovo. Arsovska observes that ‘ethnic Albanian human trafficking networks quickly gained a reputation for being exceptionally violent’, and from her sources, noted that the Albanian mafia is considered the most powerful, even in comparison to Russian, Chinese and Nigerian organized criminal enterprises. This is partly due to the fact that many have a military or Communist secret police background from the former regimes. Organized crime during Communism was widespread in Albania, and with the fall, many who were previously in authority, were able to use their contacts. For example, the abolition of the Sigurimi in the early 1990s left about 10,000 agents unemployed; some became involved in organized criminal activity, such that the political, commercial, and criminal had merged. The Council of Europe and Europol have repeatedly found these peopel to be a major threat to the European Union because of their extreme violence and the fact that they had graduated from simple criminal service providers to working within the highest echelons of international organized crime. Interpol’s Drug Trafficking 2006 63 Central and Eastern European Review ‘wanted’ list, names over 500 ethnic Albanians for serious drug trafficking charges. There are claims that Albanians have formed alliances and accords with the Sicilian mafia, though the author considers that such links are weak, and such claims are sensationalized. Likewise myths claiming that the Albanian mafia is composed of 15– 20 clan-based groups, strictly obeying Kanun codes, hierarchically structured and secretive, are all over emphasized, whereas she finds that in fact the organized crime groups do work mainly amongst extended family groups, with occasional reference to the Kanun; they do tend to have a main leader but without according him excessive power—these groups tend to fall apart if this leader is killed or jailed. The author provides a useful table of myths versus realities concerning Albanian organized criminal organizations (227–8). There is a chapter outlining the life of many Albanian criminals, and especially those belonging to gangs, as well as organized crime in the Balkans and its political dimensions. Arsovska provides a table outlining a wide range of factors which influence criminals’ decision-making, showing that simply acquiring a large income goes far from explaining motivation for criminal activity. She also claims that their culture accords praise to those bringing funds to the family, without questioning the source. ‘Firearms play a crucial role in the execution of violent crimes, and they represent power, masculinity, and, above all, honor for many Albanians, both offenders and ordinary citizens.’ This is supported by many Albanian proverbs (given on p.220) reinforcing a love of guns. Arsovska tells of meeting an offender who boasted that for one wedding alone he spent over 1,000 euros on ammunition—and at the end of the celebration one older invitee complimented him on his shooting skills Arsovska observes that during the unstable years following Albania’s descent into anarchy in the mid-to-late 1990s proactive criminals saw an opportunity to establish ties by sending money to powerful politicians, businessmen and influential members of Albanian society. Aldo Bare, the most notorious, managed to be ‘set free’ or ‘left alone’ by judges and prosecutors because of his political connections and violent reputation. His group operated with impunity until his arrest in 2006. The disaster of the Pyramid schemes forced the country’s transition from totalitarian regime instead of to democracy, into corruption, privatization fraud, protection rackets, violence, and other forms of organized crime. Sali Berisha’s rapturously greeted success as the first elected Prime Minister after the fall of Communism, ensured control of all the country’s key posts in the ministries, police 64 Central and Eastern European Review and SHIK such that they were filled by his northerner family and clan members, with the express aim ‘to neutralize the political opposition represented by the Socialist Party’ (32). With the failure of Pyramid schemes, over 550,000 small arms, 839 million rounds of ammunition and 16 million explosive devices were looted from army stockpiles. Those who lost money became intensively involved in illegal activity. Arsovska notes that violent groups created small armies for protection, and to impose their influence on Albanian citizens; rivalries between criminal gangs and individuals increased. Extortion, kidnapping and corruption became commonplace. In 1997, 1,542 murders were reported by police, which, while unprecedented, may not have given the full account. At this time most cases of entrepreneurial illicit activities were not even identified as offences, and rarely classified as organized crime. Arsovska is very dismissive of Kosovo Albanian nonviolent efforts for over a decade, from the early 1980’s, in response to increasing oppression of Serb rule and their final genocidal treatment (very fully documented in numerous books, for example Noel Malcolm’s Kosovo: a Short History, NYU Press, 1999 and witness reports, for example Fred Abrahams et al for Human Rights Watch, A Village Destroyed, May 14, 1999: War Crimes in Kosovo, University of California Press, 1999—and forthcoming translation of a Kosovar book published in 2009, giving women’s eye-witness accounts: History of Terror: Kosovo war 1998–1999, Crime Dossier—Women’s Stories). There is no reference to the extreme Albanian suffering through to June l999. Her focus on KLA’s ‘dark side’, is not balanced by describing the extremely vicious treatment of Kosovars by Serb military and police. The author relates that when the KLA formally disbanded, some commanders changed hats and moved into politics, some into crime. The Kosovo Protection Service (KPS) was formed including 25,000 former KLA combatants, and was frequently accused of extorting money from businessmen under the guise of ‘taxes’. Journalist Peter Schwartz claimed in 2005 that former Kosovar Albanian criminals won a reputation as politicians abroad, and enjoyed parliamentary immunity at home, and the protection of international law abroad. Arsovska over-generalizes, even sensationalizes the situation in both Albania and Kosovo in her statement: ‘One should never forget that both in Albania and Kosovo, a generation of young people grew up in states run by thieves and murderers, which no doubt affected their outlook and contributed to the creation of so-called criminogenic, or crime permeated societies. Consequently, today a thin line divides politics, business, and organized 65 Central and Eastern