Aurora Bulkualis wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 8:17 pm
Rama is not even that popular in Albania. He has like 45% approval. It's just Berisha/Meta are hated by 70-90% of the population, so every election is a landslide.
45% is pretty good in Albania though, no?
It isn't a two-party race like the USA.
Berisha always had the north, but that changed recently.
That being said, his popularity really doesn't matter. Point is, he's growing is power and it doesn't look like he will ever lose it.
Anything north of Tirana is being ruled by local criminals who are faithful to Rama, who rewards them by giving them public tenders, looks the other way when they commit crimes, etc…
It’s not like he has grassroots support in the north. It’s that he bought off the people that do.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
My prediction for this whole thing is Kosova (along with the Presheva valley) will be split between Serbia and Albania. If Serbia gets the north of Kosovo along with the Trepca mines, I don't they'd give a shit if the rest of it along with Presheva merges with Albania. Getting a "portion of Kosovo", no matter how small, will be a win in their eyes, especially if it comes with that huge economic benefit.
For better or worse, the only short term path of normalization is if Kosova/Presheva get absorbed into Albania, and Serbia doesn't have to recognize anything. But this will mean the Trepca mines will be gone, and you'll get a huge west/east economic division between Albanians, where Tirana + the coastline cities of Shkoder-Lezhe-Durres-Fier-Vlore-Sarande will hold disproportionate amounts of power. Eastern Albania today has already been almost abandoned (apart from Korce).
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
Aurora Bulkualis wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 7:39 am
My prediction for this whole thing is Kosova (along with the Presheva valley) will be split between Serbia and Albania. If Serbia gets the north of Kosovo along with the Trepca mines, I don't they'd give a shit if the rest of it along with Presheva merges with Albania. Getting a "portion of Kosovo", no matter how small, will be a win in their eyes, especially if it comes with that huge economic benefit.
For better or worse, the only short term path of normalization is if Kosova/Presheva get absorbed into Albania, and Serbia doesn't have to recognize anything. But this will mean the Trepca mines will be gone, and you'll get a huge west/east economic division between Albanians, where Tirana + the coastline cities of Shkoder-Lezhe-Durres-Fier-Vlore-Sarande will hold disproportionate amounts of power. Eastern Albania today has already been almost abandoned (apart from Korce).
I disagree , they cant get even a single inch of Kosova.
Aurora Bulkualis wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 7:39 am
My prediction for this whole thing is Kosova (along with the Presheva valley) will be split between Serbia and Albania. If Serbia gets the north of Kosovo along with the Trepca mines, I don't they'd give a shit if the rest of it along with Presheva merges with Albania. Getting a "portion of Kosovo", no matter how small, will be a win in their eyes, especially if it comes with that huge economic benefit.
For better or worse, the only short term path of normalization is if Kosova/Presheva get absorbed into Albania, and Serbia doesn't have to recognize anything. But this will mean the Trepca mines will be gone, and you'll get a huge west/east economic division between Albanians, where Tirana + the coastline cities of Shkoder-Lezhe-Durres-Fier-Vlore-Sarande will hold disproportionate amounts of power. Eastern Albania today has already been almost abandoned (apart from Korce).
While this is a plausible scenario it's never happening under Kurti. Also no way Serbia gets Trepca mine if it's already under US control.
There are laerger issues at play here. Any Kosova partition will eventually lead to the partition of Bosnia and I don't think any EU members have the appetite for that.
Aurora Bulkualis wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 8:17 pm
Rama is not even that popular in Albania. He has like 45% approval. It's just Berisha/Meta are hated by 70-90% of the population, so every election is a landslide.
45% is pretty good in Albania though, no?
It isn't a two-party race like the USA.
Berisha always had the north, but that changed recently.
That being said, his popularity really doesn't matter. Point is, he's growing is power and it doesn't look like he will ever lose it.
Anything north of Tirana is being ruled by local criminals who are faithful to Rama, who rewards them by giving them public tenders, looks the other way when they commit crimes, etc…
It’s not like he has grassroots support in the north. It’s that he bought off the people that do.
Oh yeah, I definitely agree with this. But I'm just saying it's still something that has never been done before.
