Will Ditmir Bushati lead Albania's Vetevendosje?

The dismissed Shkodra political co-ordinator targets chairmanship of Albin Kurti's “Vevendosje branch” in Tirana, taking a stand against US-EU plans for Kosovo

Former Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati has stepped up his political protagonism in recent weeks, articulating criticism at the address of Socialist Party leaders and especially Prime Minister Edi Rama. Bushat's appearance in the role of the government's opposition coincides with the loss of privileges, primarily as foreign minister, and then as political co-ordinator in the northern centre, Shkodra, following the dramatic result in the recent elections. On Wednesday evening, Bushati was a protagonist of strong debates at the SP leadership meeting, as he sought to be held responsible for Valdrin Peter and Tom Doshin, though months earlier, he had appreciated them to the full.

Earlier, after being dismissed as minister, Bushat accused the SP of being arrogant, charging it with responsibility for the boycott of the Parliament and the burning of mandates by the PD-LSI, for their political account. Bushat also criticised Prime Minister Edi Rama's stance on a Dutch Parliament decision to restore the visa regime for Albania, which, as expected, was easily rejected by the EC. But Bushat said that “would be foolish to ignore the message that comes from this Dutch Parliament start”, thus making Rama look at the effort to create a new profile in the SP. What, though, is behind the political protagonism of Ditmir Bushat, often strained and with two standards? Sources for Albanian.com have signalled that Bushat is preparing the ground to distance himself from the Socialist Party.

But, along with the plan to leave, Ditmir Bushati is expected to join a new political project in Albania. Concretically, a potential plan by Ditmir Busat is talked about to take the lead in Albania's Vetevendosje Movement branch. It even seems that Bushat is exploiting the entire situation by promoting debate and artificial replicas with Prime Minister Edi Rama on political ambition. In April of this year, the Vetevendosje Movement in Kosovo officially extended to Albania. The branch functions so far with a governing board, while at its top it is most likely to be resolved Ditmir Bushati, who is gradually being distanced from the Socialist Party while trying to create the ground for this political breakthrough, identifying himself as opposing the idea of the United States and the European Union for an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

Possible Switch to Vetevendosje

Ditmir Bushati is expected to use the dismissal as foreign minister as additional arguments to take the lead in Albania's Vetevendosje Movement branch. Although the Albanian government has so far expressed no stance or pro or against the different aspects of a possible agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, Bushati presented his dismissal as punishment for the stance against such an agreement. This Bushat stance coincides with that of the Vetevendosje Movement in Kosovo/ Albanian.