VZCZCXRO8037
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0919/01 3661531
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311531Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7729
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000919 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM KJUS AL
SUBJECT: Embassy Tirana Weekly Report 
 
Energy Superpower or Super Colony? 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  The visit of the Italian PM Berlusconi earlier this month 
attracted a lot of attention for good and for bad.  During the short 
visit both Berlusconi and Prime Minister Berisha hailed the current 
bilateral relationship.  They agreed on further intensifying 
economic ties, particularly energy and agriculture, as well as 
increased cooperation in the education, culture and health sectors. 
The GOA signed four agreements with Italian companies for 
infrastructure projects.  Two of them in the energy sector worth US$ 
2.7 billion represent the largest projects approved in recent years. 
One is a degasification plant located in the coastal areas near Fier 
and an adjacent undersea gas pipeline wh`Q`pQ`Q Qa`QQQ"q(d$a,g "4  ghnd turbines on the KaraburQb( 0a.a.c4d  (f dhe b`i of 
Vlore, with a generat)g. "a0a"atq gf 4 0 MG,  Almost all of the 
electr)c)tx prndtcdd gmeld be exported to Italy. 
 
¶2.  Apart from PM Berisha, wHo giddily boasted that the planned 
projects would turn Albania into a regional "energy superpower," the 
proposed Italian investments generated little excitement and instead 
stirred up controversy.  The proposed wind farm on the Karaburuni 
peninsula has raised a lot of concern among civil society 
representatives because of its environmental effects.  The project 
is located near a protected national park, and the entire area is 
unspoiled due to its complete isolation.  The opposition also called 
on the government to make the profit and the cost of these large 
projects transparent to the Albanian people.  On the other hand, PM 
Berisha hailed the events and said that these projects are part of a 
larger plan to turn Albania into a major energy exporter in the 
region.  In Mid-December, the GOA signed another large contract 
worth US$ 1.4 billion with Austrian and Norwegian companies for the 
construction of three hydropower plants in the Devolli River in 
southern Albania. 
 
¶3.  While moving yet one step closer to reality, these projects 
might still fall within the category of a mirage in the desert, and 
are unlikely to happen, at least in the short to mid term.  These 
announcements were only the latest in a long series of grandiose 
planned projects, unveiled by the GOA to much fanfare but then 
slowly fading from the headlines as follow-up action never takes 
place.  It is obvious that due to not-in-my-backyard concerns, the 
Italians will have the incentive to move forward faster this time, 
and Albania is in desperate need for foreign investments and new 
sources of electricity generation. However, there is also growing 
public dissent against these projects, which in the public mind turn 
Albania less into a superpower and more into a colony of its 
neighbors. 
 
A Room of One's Own 
------------------- 
 
¶4. A generally overlooked aspect of the new electoral code is a 
quota system for women candidates, aimed at improving women's 
participation in politics and representation in parliament. 
Unfortunately, this quota system is more band-aid than cure and 
tends to underestimate the level of independence women ought to 
experience in their private sphere in order to be successful in 
their political undertakings. 
 
¶5. In a patriarchal society such as Albania, women are relegated to 
the household or the private sphere, where there is little room for 
their own self, while men to the public one. As a result, 
relationships between women and men, and later on even amongst 
people of the same sex, are built based on the win-lose principle or 
of the conqueror and the conquered. 
 
¶6. Women's participation in the public sphere is rather limited to 
their sexuality.  Such examples can be observed everywhere. If you 
are a woman driver, you are reminded at least once a day about your 
supposedly limited driving abilities.  In the workplace, the lunch 
tables are often divided based on sex as men sit and talk about 
"important" political and economic issues while women talk about 
dresses, hair and makeup, and gossip about others.  In addition, 
living on your own when your parents live in the same city can be 
considered rather strange and inappropriate.  Many landlords often 
ask whether you are on good terms with your family, for they don't 
understand why in the world would a young woman want to live on her 
own.   Gender becomes the glue that holds together most of the human 
interactions in our daily life. 
 
¶7. Although in the public sphere decisions are often made by male 
politicians to introduce gender quotas in order to promote women in 
politics, these are rather short-term and short-envisioned 
solutions.  Even though we can find many band aids to publicly solve 
problems caused by Albania's strongly patriarchal system, they will 
 
TIRANA 00000919  002 OF 002 
 
 
not provide a long-term and sustainable solution for many Albanian 
women in their daily life.  As a consequence, they will fail, hence 
undermining feminist efforts for a fair and equal society for men 
and women.