14 Cowboys in Pristina, by Berat Buzhala

Berat Buzhala

21/09/2020 15:24

The ideological animosity is a luxury of states with nukes in their hangars. Kosovo in its hangars has grain reserves for only a few months. If we give in on empty philosophical masturbations, which unfortunately at a certain point made it to the prime minister’s office, Albanians have benefited the most in Europe from the policies of cowboys and sheriffs.

Not one, but 14 American cowboys will arrive today in our town. Chances are that before heading to Kosovo, the Americans agreed for Richard Grenell to be their Sheriff.  There were many sceptics and  some fools, who after Kosovo-Serbia agreement at  the White House were convinced the US Administration will not stand behind  the deal signed at the Oval Office in the White House, believed the US simply would walk  away after consuming the news. To their biggest surprise, now an extended delegation of Trump’s Administration will visit Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, and Israel.

What I like the most from this visit is the short period of time the delegation will spend in each capital. Two hours in Pristina, two hours in Belgrade, to be followed with Athens and Tel Aviv. Cowboys are just like that. Their visits are brief, they speak sharp and clear, and leave no room for misunderstandings. In other words, American cowboys are the opposite of the bureaucrats in Brussels and Europe. The latter, maybe because of the complexity of their political organisation, are always cold-blooded, talk much and do little, even if the blood flows like a river. Knowing that for every problem in the foreign policy they need unity, and approval of Cyprus among other countries, bureaucrats in Brussels choose to speak rather than act.

It has been a while since the US military intervention in Kosovo (camouflaged as NATO’s intervention); therefore, girls and boys in Kosovo, under 30, are somehow confused when listening political leaders of our country talking about cowboys. Maybe, they find odd this way of US diplomacy. But this is how it has always been, for 70 years now. America had Henry Kissinger, Richard Holbrooke, Wesley Clark; today America has Richard Grenell. They are like brothers. Though not identical but act alike. As a form, considering the world is their audience, they have no time to lose. I bet Holbrooke would have been more active had he lived in Twitter era. They are the same cowboys who dared telling criminals like Milosevic they must chose between two options, either peace or B-2 jets. The latter chose the last option, trying to test American determination. But soon he was convinced he was mistaken. No American diplomat can sound so convincing, without having Pentagon’s support. Therefore, agreements signed at the White House, are usually, more efficient than those signed everywhere else in the world. There are a lot of victims out there who never understood this.

US Administration, under President Trump, and this is not a secret, differs substantially from other administrations. But the difference is not by being soft, but by being a more American when it comes to pace and arrogance. The last thing we would like is to be on the other side of the coin. At the beginning of this year, due to stubbornness of ex-prime minister Albin Kurti and his friends, we were seriously exposed. Kurti, and a circle of his friends, although he may say otherwise, does not hate America as a continent, or Americans as a people, but he immensely hates the way Washington does politics. According to Kurti’s standard, even the left in America is a radical right, whereas for the right it is not worth spending a word. The school that has educated Kurti ideologically, sees former US president Ronald Regan as hitting target, who also from the radical leftist was considered – to the surprise – a cowboy, because it was this cowboy who crumbled the castle of the radical left – the  Soviet Union.

I do not exclude that there is a room for debate in this level. Intellectuals, journalists, civil society, human rights activists, can speak extensively about the moral and politics, the way how these cowboys approach solving of problems. But this should not be a worry for prime ministers and presidents of fragile countries such as our country. The ideological animosity is a luxury of states with nukes in their hangars. Kosovo in its hangars has grain reserves for only a few months. If we give in on empty philosophical masturbations, which unfortunately at a certain point made it to the prime minister’s office, Albanians have benefited the most in Europe from the policies of cowboys and sheriffs. An old Persian saying says: “Long live the snake that doesn’t bite me!” Unfortunately, in our country the United States, from some of the politicians, are being judged with the Soviet Union spectacles, with spectacles of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda. We consider these spectacles dangerous.