Monthly Archive 01/12/19

Albania’s prime minister is asking the international community for financial aid and expert assistance following last week’s earthquake.

Edi Rama said at a Cabinet meeting Sunday, “Simply, this is humanly impossible to do this [reconstruction] alone.”

He said the budget is being reshaped to deal with the earthquake’s aftermath, but Albania still needs international support.  

Rama said he has written to U.S. President Donald Trump to ask for help.

U.S. and European Union civil engineers are working with local experts in Albania to assess the damage.  

The mayor of Durres, one of the hardest hit towns, resigned Sunday after public outcry about remarks she made that she was “pleased” that only 50 people had died in the earthquake.  Valbona Sako said she was “hurt by the overwhelming negative reaction to a statement I made under stress that exceeds my strength.”

The search and rescue operation for earthquake survivors in Albania ended Saturday, the prime minister said.

The small town of Thumane, experienced the highest death toll from Tuesday’s quake with 26 people killed, six of whom belonged to one family, and all but one under age 30. They were buried Friday.

In the port city of Durres — 30 kilometers west of the capital, Tirana — the quake killed 24.  One person also died in Kurbin.

In all, 51 people died, including seven children. Nine-hundred were injured.  More than 5,000 people are without shelter; and 1,200 buildings were destroyed in the 6.4-magnitude quake and the aftershocks that followed.  
 
Seismologist Rexhep Koci told VOA that while there is the likelihood for more aftershocks, but they would be weaker.

Neighboring countries provide assistance
 
EU Ambassador to Albania Luigi Soreca said Friday that the European Union and its member states are standing with Albania and working nonstop to provide assistance “in this very difficult moment.”
 
“It is a week of deep sorrow and tragedy for Albania,” Soreca said in a statement. “Our heartfelt condolences go once again to the Albanian people and especially to the families, friends and communities of those who have lost their lives.”

More than 200 military troops from Albania, Kosovo, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, France, Turkey, Switzerland, Romania, North Macedonia, the EU and the United States, participated in the search and rescue operation.

People spontaneously came from Kosovo, operating mobile kitchens, gathering donations and opening their homes. About 500 homeless Albanians are staying in a camp set up by Kosovo’s government in the city of Prizren. On Friday alone, individuals and businesses from Kosovo delivered 100 tons of much needed necessities.

Remembering victims

Tirana residents turned out in the city center to honor the victims, placing candles in a makeshift memorial near the statue of Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg.
 
The state of emergency declared Wednesday for Durres and Thumane was extended to the heavily damaged town of Lac. Prime Minister Rama said he made the decision after opposition leader Lulzim Basha suggested it. Rama appeared to put on hold the acrimony often on display between the two political rivals.

“In this case, our concerns and ideas converge,” Rama said, inviting the opposition to participate in the Committee for Earthquake Relief.
 
For Rama, the tragedy hit close to home as his office confirmed that among the dead was his son Gregor’s fiance, Kristi Reci, whose entire family — both parents and her brother — died in Durres.

Physician Shkelqime Ladi said doctors are on hand to help with immediate needs.
 
“We are focusing more on the psychological aspect of the affected. Their psychological state is aggravated,” she told VOA in Lac.

Armand Mero reported from Tirana, Ilirian Agolli reported from Durres, Pellumb Sulo reported from Lac.

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Britain’s politicians are bracing for a two-day visit to London by U.S. President Donald Trump and wondering how the trip may affect the most volatile and toxic British election in decades, one likely to shape the country for generations.

Trump arrives in London Monday for a two-day trip to attend what’s shaping up to be a fiery NATO summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

With 10 days to go before Britons vote in their third general election in less than four years, the ruling Conservatives are enjoying healthy opinion poll leads, which suggests they have a chance to pull off a 68-seat majority in the House of Commons. However, Johnson’s aides are fearful of risking anything that could upset their momentum and reverse the trend.

They worry the norm-shattering Trump may fire off controversial remarks concerning the election, Brexit and a future transatlantic free-trade deal with Britain, one the country would need desperately to compensate for a break with Europe. Johnson’s aides are playing for safety first — a caution that’s seen Johnson reduce his TV interviews and debate appearances in the final days of the election campaign.

In an era of political upsets and scrambled politics the Conservatives don’t want to tempt fate, and last week Johnson’s key political adviser, Dominic Cummings, warned the party faithful that the general election is much closer than polls suggest, issuing what he dubbed a “bat signal” to anti-EU voters that Brexit is at risk and they need to turn out and vote Conservative.

“Trust me, as someone who has worked on lots of campaigns, things are much tighter than they seem and there is a very real possibility of a hung Parliament,” he said.

According to Tony Newton-Dunn, the political editor of the Sun newspaper, a British tabloid with good connections to both Downing Street and Trump advisers, the prime minister’s aides have been lobbying for Johnson to avoid any bilateral sit-down with Trump. The aim is to “swerve all controversial one-on-one moments by hosting all 29 NATO state leaders for a reception alongside the queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night.”

The White House has confirmed there’s no plan for Trump to meet with Johnson, although he will have meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines, which could turn fiery following the French leader’s recent call for Europe to rethink transatlantic relations and its defense structure. Trump will also have meetings with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte.

Johnson is scheduled to conclude the summit with a press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “Loose tongues can sink ships,” a Conservative insider told VOA. “We don’t want to give a gift to Jeremy Corbyn,” he added, referring to the leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party, which is trailing the Conservatives in the polls by about 11%.

A U.S. official told reporters in Washington that Trump “likes Prime Minister Boris Johnson personally, but he’s absolutely cognizant of not wading into other countries’ elections.” On the eve of the British election, though, Trump wasn’t circumspect, saying Corbyn “would be so bad” for Britain and describing his”friend” Boris Johnson as “the exact right guy for the times.”

When asked last week whether he would welcome a Trump endorsement, Johnson responded, “What we don’t do traditionally, as loving allies and friends, is get involved in each other’s election campaigns.”

NHS on future trade deal

Corbyn has made post-Brexit transatlantic relations a key issue in his campaign, warning voters that the U.S. will demand Britain’s National Health Service be “on the table” in talks on a future trade deal. Johnson and Trump have denied the claim.

In June, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, told the BBC that the NHS would be on the table in future trade talks between a post-Brexit Britain and Washington. A few days later during a London press conference, Trump confirmed he expected that would be the case saying in response to a question “everything is on the table.” He later walked back his remark.

Last week Corbyn released documents showing that in talks between British and American trade representatives the pricing of U.S.-supplied drugs surfaced, with American officials wanting to lengthen the duration of drug patents currently observed in Britain. They also objected to the overall prices Britain’s NHS pays for U.S. pharmaceuticals.

“Longer patents can only mean one thing: more expensive drugs. Lives will be put at risk as a result of this,” Corbyn said. He highlighted recent Trump complaints about the “unreasonably low prices” countries pay for American drugs.

Conservatives dubbed Corbyn’s claim a “stunt.”

“The NHS will not be on the table in any future trade deal and the price that the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table,” said the Conservatives’ Liz Truss, the current international trade secretary.

Analysts say American health care firms want to expand in Britain but that there’s no evidence to date that a trade deal would depend on some kind of dismantling of Britain’s state-owned health-care system.

Political vision of Nigel Farage

At the other end of the political spectrum, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, a Trump ally and friend, is also hoping Trump’s visit will benefit him and give a lift to his flagging electoral prospects. His aides say he hopes Trump might be drawn into again criticizing Johnson’s EU exit deal, as he did earlier this month on a London radio show hosted by Farage.

During the program, which was on the eve of the official election campaign, Trump agreed with Farage, who wants a clean break from the EU, that Johnson’s withdrawal agreement would make a trade agreement with the U.S. impossible.

“We want to do trade with the U.K. and they want to do trade with us. And to be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you can’t do it,” Trump said.

According to a recent YouGov opinion poll only 18% of Britons hold a positive opinion of Trump,  so a fulsome endorsement of Johnson on his part wouldn’t be helpful from the point of view of British Conservatives.

However, even foreign leaders who’ve been popular in Britain have discovered that remarks on domestic British politics can all too easily backfire, as former U.S. President Barack Obama found when he urged Britons to back staying in the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

“The problem is it is impossible to predict what Trump is going to say,” said a Conservative strategist, who asked not to be identified. “There’s some anxiety about what he might say — or be tempted to say by reporters and opposition politicians out to provoke him — during the trip,” he added.

Trump is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday before returning to Washington.

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Britain’s political leaders sparred Sunday over who is responsible for the early release of a convicted extremist who launched a stabbing attack in central London that left two dead and injured three.

The argument centers over the early release from prison of Usman Khan, who served roughly half his sentence before being set free. He was able to stab five people before being shot dead by police despite conditions imposed on his release that were supposed to protect public safety.

After a one-day pause out of respect for victims, the Friday attack is dominating the political scene as the Dec. 12 election nears, shifting the focus, at least for the moment, from Brexit and the National Health Service to issues of security and criminal justice.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday blamed Khan’s freedom on changes in sentencing rules made by the last Labour Party government before Johnson’s Conservatives took power in 2010. He promised to toughen sentencing laws.

 “I think it is repulsive that individuals as dangerous as this man should be allowed out after serving only eight years and that’s why we are going to change the law,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

Marr repeatedly challenged the prime minister by pointing out that the Conservatives had been in power for nearly a decade and not taken any steps to change the situation Johnson was complaining about.

The accuracy of Johnson’s claim was challenged by Ed Davey, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, who told Sky News that the prime minister was misleading the public about the current law regarding early release of prisoners.

“Either he’s incompetent and doesn’t know the law, or he’s deliberately misleading people when we’ve got a tragedy on our hands, and I’m afraid, either way, it does not look good for the Prime Minister,” Davey said.

Other rivals complained that Johnson was trying to score political points in the aftermath of the extremist attack.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Conservatives of trying to provide security “on the cheap” and said he does not necessarily agree that all terrorist prisoners should be required to serve their full terms.

He said it depends on the circumstances and called for the Parole Board and the probation service to be more actively involved.

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