“Sweden is the fourth-largest donor of the EU member states in Albania. All our support is focused on bringing Albania closer to EU membership. The support has three priority areas: improving economic integration, strengthening democracy, and improving the environment and reducing climate impact,” Swedish Ambassador Elsa Hastad said
By Genc Mlloja
Senior Diplomatic Editor
“I have been asked to come here to talk about the story of Sweden joining the European Union 25 years ago. But first, let me tell you some fun facts about Sweden to catch your attention and to get you interested in our beautiful, cold country”. With these words the Swedish Ambassador to Tirana, Elsa Hastad has started her conversation with the students of philosophy of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tirana in an open auditorium held a few days ago, which turned into a vivid discussion with a lot of questions asked by the young students.
This event reminded me of a ‘concern’ that Ambassador Hastad had at the start of her mission in Albania which she told me in an interview published by Albanian Daily News on December 23, 2019 and it goes like this: “When I came to Albania I was a bit surprised that Sweden was not so well known in the country. Of course, it is known like a country but not regarding music, for example, or movies. There has been a lack of the image of Sweden like it is for Italy or Greece in Albania.”
This time she had chosen to speak about Sweden’s 25- year experience in EU to Albanian students and in this frame she started the talk with questions on how much the young audience knew on specific aspects of her country. “Did you know that Swedish people love to recycle? Forty-nine percent of the waste in Sweden is actually being incinerated for energy. This may sound like great news but it has caused one big problem: there’s not enough waste left to keep the incinerators running. So, we have come up with a novel solution. Sweden import waste from Norway and the UK to keep the lights on,” was the first question and answer by her.
“Did you know that Sweden is the country with the highest number of patents per capita in Europe? There is no shortage of Swedish innovations and innovators, and some of the more famous ones are Tetra Pak (Erik Wallenberg), the Pacemaker (Rune Elmqvist) and the Dynamite (Alfred Nobel),” was the other question and answer. “Did you know that Sweden is the only country in the world where donations stand for more than 1% of the total GDP? Even though we are a small country, we think it is important to help people and reduce poverty around the world,” was the third question and answer by Ambassador Hastad.
Sweden’s EU membership 25 years ago
In her ‘story’ Mrs. Hastad touched upon the popular and lively debate and the referendum in Sweden before saying ‘Yes’ to join the European Union 25 years ago. “Our identity as Europeans was not always self-evident to everyone. Sweden had managed to stay out of the wars that had plagued the rest of Europe. Perhaps we saw ourselves more as Skaningar (that is a region of Sweden), Stockholmers or Swedes, than as continental Europeans. At the same time, the EU was a unique peace project that made countries stronger through exchange and trade. So twenty-five years ago, a majority voted for Sweden to join the European Union,” the Ambassador told the students who learned from her that even though half of the population was skeptical towards joining the EU, it did come with many benefits for ordinary citizens in Sweden.
Sweden became EU member on 1 January 1995 along with Austria and Finland, which was the Union’s fourth enlargement.
Ambassador Hastad mentioned benefits from joining the block like free mobility being able to study, work and travel freely within the Union, the free movement of goods, the free roaming. “But Sweden had to make considerable changes to become a member of the EU as well,” confessed the Ambassador turning to Albania’s drive to join EU.
‘EU must stay true to its commitments…’
“Albania is also on the path of joining the EU. In 2003, the EU declared that all the countries of the Western Balkans were potential EU candidate countries. Me, and the Swedish Government, think it is important that the EU stays true to its commitments and we hope that Albania will be able to open accession talks soon. We know that Albania has worked hard to come this far – for example with the important justice reforms. At the same time, we see that there is still much to be done,” said Stockholm’s top envoy to Tirana reconfirming her country’s readiness to continue help for Albania on its EU path.
“You might not know this, but Sweden is the fourth-largest donor of the EU member states in Albania. All our support is focused on bringing Albania closer to EU membership. The support has three priority areas: improving economic integration, strengthening democracy, and improving the environment and reducing climate impact,” she revealed.
According to her, it is known that Albania must increase the efficiency of its public administration and justice system and improve access to good public services. Through the Community Policing programme, Sweden supports the work to promote change within the Albanian police, in order to increase their credibility and their capacity to combat juvenile delinquency.
Speaking of environment, Mrs. Hastad said Albania is rich in natural resources but lacks the capacity to protect and manage them. “But the country also has severe environmental problems. Environmentally hazardous industries from the communist era and rapid urbanisation have contributed to environmental degradation. The financial resources for improvements to the environmental and climate sectors are highly limited, and legislation in these areas is weak.”
Another priority of the Albanian government, as she said, is water. But in her opinion the various functions and responsibilities of the water sector are unclear. “With Swedish technical assistance, Albania has created a new water resource authority that brings together functions that were previously located in four different institutions.”
In conclusion of her remarks the Ambassador noted that Albania is a country in transition, and this poses major challenges for its economy. “In the private sector, the proportion of small and medium-sized businesses is high, and these enterprises are important to both employment and the eradication of poverty. To promote innovation and entrepreneurship, we have a project where start-ups receive financial support and training through so-called ‘challenge funds’”, said Ambassador Hastad.
Sweden’s image as a real model…
At the outset of the event remarks were made by the Faculty Dean, Prof. Dr. Edmond Rrapti, the Chief of Philosophy Department, Dr. Aida Goga, and the Professor of the subject Dr. Majlinda Keta who spoke on the academic module and the participation of students in the debate on EU.
The academic module ‘The Philosophy of European Integration’ at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tirana aims at creating an academic and public environment of ideas, arguments, and projects on the functioning of the EU and the path of Albania towards membership in the Union. In this frame the Swedish Ambassador, Hastad was invited to the open auditorium.
Ambassador’s revelations on Sweden, particularly the part on its experience in the EU and the comments on Albanian opportunities to join the block, prompted many questions by the young participants.
Who is responsible – the people or the governments – for the refusal made to Albania to join the Union was what one student wanted to know from the Swedish Ambassador. “You as people have the agreement with EU and keep to this, work on it because you have many supporters along this path full of responsibilities to be fulfilled,” said Mrs. Haptad in her answer. Another student wanted to know of her assessment on the EU membership of Albania, which, as it was put in the question, was a country with a democratic deficit and a high level budget deficit. In her answer the Ambassador was critical of the risk of the high budget deficit but appreciated the steps which had been made over the last 30 years regarding the existence of a high number of online media, the high number of parties, the existence of a civil society, and the absence of political prisoners. However, she highlighted Sweden’s attention to media pluralism and free speech.
Polarization, conflictuality in the internal political life of parties, which have brought about a loss of much energy for Albanians’ progress and prolongation of the integration stages was the answer to the question on which was the greatest mistake in the 30-year road of Albania towards EU. In the meantime the Ambassador was critical of the non- functional parliament due to the absence of the opposition. She appreciated the fact that there is an Albania with natural potential for development which should have environment protection as priority.
However the Swedish Ambassador was reluctant on the high number of young people who leave the country. Instead she invited students to apply for various stages of academic studies in Sweden and other countries. “But they should come back to work for their country. This has been my country’s experience and that of many developed countries which turn free movement as potential opportunity for the development of their countries.”
There were a lot of questions on Brexit and the enlargement philosophy, on the nuance that the feminine status gives to the ambassadorial position, the strong points for which Albanians should evaluate themselves along the accession drive. In the most concrete and simple manner Mrs. Hastad summed up the answer by referring to Sweden as a real model of a dignified politics and diplomacy through the gender equality.
As some students confessed the discourse had been an opportunity to learn on the merits of the Swedish system with regard to the social- political progress. “I will come back again,” Ambassador Hasdat promised the students as there are many pending questions on different aspects of what Sweden, its people and their traditions and culture are, how that country can help more the overall progress of Albanians, especially youth, who, particularly, are much more interested in learning about Sweden’s true image.
