Home More News Once-Marxist Albania celebrates 100th anniversary of US relations

Once-Marxist Albania celebrates 100th anniversary of US relations

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Once-Marxist Albania celebrates 100th anniversary of US relations
Floreta Luli-Faber, Albania's longtime ambassador to the United States, is preparing a series of events to mark the 100th anniversary of bilateral relations. (Photo by Larry Luxner)

Warren Harding was president on July 28, 1922, the day the United States and Albania—an impoverished Balkan backwater—formally established diplomatic ties following strong support by Harding’s predecessor, Woodrow Wilson.

Ulysses Grant-Smith was the first American diplomat to serve in Tirana, and in 1926, Faik Konica was sent to Washington as Albania’s first ambassador, a post he kept for 13 years.

Yet the honeymoon was not to last. In 1946, following Italian and then Nazi German occupation during World War II, Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha broke relations with Washington. Hoxha, an isolationist who despised the United States, ruled his nation with brutality until his death in 1985, and only with the collapse of communism in 1991 were bilateral ties re-established.

Young boys clamber onto a dilapidated bus in the port city of Durres, hoping to board a ship out of Albania. (1991 photo by Larry Luxner)

The first American ambassador in Tirana in the post-Hoxha era was William J. Ryerson, who was interviewed by this reporter in March 1992 at his temporary headquarters in Room 215 of the Dajti Hotel until a proper US Embassy could be set up.

In the three decades since then, Albania has gone from a fanatically Marxist, North Korea-style international hermit to one of the most pro-American countries on Earth.

“We have a very particular relationship with the United States,” said Floreta Luli-Faber, Albania’s ambassador in Washington since 2015. “The Albanian diaspora here in the US was very organized around their churches and mosques. They have their own activities and festivals, and very good relations with politicians. They also played a big role in establishing bilateral relations in 1922.”

Fading sign from the communist era says “Long live the Albanian Workers’ Party.” (1991 photo by Larry Luxner)

Following World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the United States under President Wilson recognized Albania as an independent country, thereby ending territorial ambitions by Italy, Greece and Yugoslavia. Yet economic hardship endured, prompting a large-scale exodus of Albanians to the United States.

To mark the centennial of bilateral ties, the embassy is planning a July 27 conference with the 24-member Congressional Albanian Issues Caucus, which is led by Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut), Rep. Richie Torres (D-New York), Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Michigan and Rep. Robert Aderhold (R-Alabama).

Tapping into the Albanian-American diaspora

The caucus, headed for 30 years by former Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York), focuses on issues important to ethnic Albanians not only in Albania itself but also in Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Protesters at a 1992 pro-democracy rally at Albania’s University of Tirana. (Photo by Larry Luxner)

“We are trying to bring together all members who have Albanians in their district,” said Faber, adding that she’s planning a major event at the Capitol itself to mark the 110th anniversary of Albanian independence this November.

Particularly large Albanian-American communities flourish in Boston, Detroit and New York. The oldest such community exists in Worcester, Mass., which attracted thousands of people from Korçë and other predominantly Christian Orthodox towns throughout southeastern Albania.

No surprise, then, that the Worcester Historical Museum this month is hosting an exhibition on 100 years of the Albanian diaspora. Other events are planned in Cleveland, Detroit, New York and New Jersey, said Faber.

Accordion player performs for tips in front of Albania’s Museum of Secret Surveillance in Tirana. (Photo by Larry Luxner)

“We have a special relationship with the New Jersey National Guard, and we are pushing for a number of relationships in other fields,” said Faber. “We already have an agreement on dental education between Rutgers and the University of Tirana, and we would like to expand economic relations through the Office of the Governor.”

Faber, speaking recently with The Washington Diplomat at her embassy just off Connecticut Avenue, was born in 1968 in the northern city of Shkoder. She graduated from Tirana University’s Faculty of Economics in 1990, then completed a two-year course in international marketing and strategy at the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo (1993-95).

From 1995 to 2000, Faber worked with Deloitte & Touche, helping the accounting firm open its new branch in Tirana; that period included a secondment program with Deloitte’s Czech office in Prague. She was executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce of Albania from 2000—when it opened—until her current appointment.

Fashionable café along Rruga Ibrahim Rugova, a main pedestrian boulevard in Tirana, Albania. (Photo by Larry Luxner)

Albania becomes temporary haven for Afghan refugees

Long considered Europe’s poorest country, Albania (population 2.9 million) has made substantial economic progress, reaching annual per-capita income of $4,832 in 2021. Bilateral trade last year between US and Albania was $163.4 million, and major US investors in the country include construction conglomerate Bechtel and energy giant ExxonMobil.

Albania, one of 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, has also been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine in its current struggle.

“We never thought we’d talk about a war in Europe, but we have been one of the strongest voices on the Security Council [against Russia],” Faber said, adding that Albania has taken in 6,000 Ukrainian refugees to date. That’s on top of the 2,800 Afghan refugees who were resettled in Shengjin, Albania, in the wake of the Taliban’s chaotic takeover of that country last year.

Agriculture is still a major industry in largely rural Albania. (Photo by Larry Luxner)

“We shared as much as we could with them. The majority were put in five-star hotels along our northern Adriatic coast,” said the ambassador. “Many have expressed interest in going to the US or Canada. And we have offered them opportunities if they want to stay.”

Besides the embassy itself, Faber oversees two consulates —one in Washington and one in New York—as well as three honorary consulates in Atlanta, Dallas and Detroit.

“I believe that for a small country like Albania, there’s a strong benefit to being here for a long time,” said Faber, who’s managed to visit every US state except Alaska. “So much of what the embassy here does in the United States is based on personal relationships—and it takes time to build up these relationships. We have put Albania on the map here in Washington.”

Larry Luxner

Miami native Larry Luxner, a veteran journalist and photographer, has reported from more than 100 countries in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia for a variety of news outlets. He lived for many years in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Washington, D.C., area before relocating to Israel in January 2017. Larry has been news editor of The Washington Diplomat since 2005.

1 COMMENT

  1. We should have a friends of a Albania event here sponsored by the Embassy. A little bit of networking at the right time may prove helpful.

    Former Peace Corps country Director Albania 2005.

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