History of bilateral relations between Albania and Italy.
Albanian-Italian relations are as old as our two countries. History is witness to a stable binomial of interests.
Rome and Venice gave and benefited a lot from the economic, political and cultural development of Illyria. It is no coincidence that figures of Illyrian origin sit on the imperial and papal thrones; just as the cooperation between Skanderbeg and Alfonso V of Naples is no coincidence; it is no coincidence that the first document of the written Albanian language, the “Baptism Formula” was discovered in the library of Milan; just as it is no coincidence that hundreds and thousands of Arber women persecuted by the Ottoman invaders after the death of Skanderbeg found shelter and hospitality on Italian soil; it is also no coincidence that hundreds of Arber women fought and shed blood for the freedom and unification of Italy in Garibaldi’s wards. Italy’s contribution to Albania’s independence is known, and especially its efforts at the London Conference, alongside Austria, for the creation of an independent Albanian State.
With the Declaration of Independence of Albania in 1912, the first diplomatic relations with other countries were established. One of them is Italy. As the practice of international relations requires, an independent state would have to have its own representation in the countries with which it had cooperative relations. As soon as Ismail Qemali’s government was created, it was too early to set up a diplomatic representation and so it was up to Prince Vid’s government to be the first to establish a relationship with Italy, setting up its own representative there, precisely Myfid Bey Libohova. With the departure of Libohova, we had a break in relations between Albania and Italy, due to the First World War. A year after the Congress of Lushnja, the establishment of diplomatic missions with Italy resumed, thus establishing the first Albanian legation in Rome and with it the creation of several consulates that would expand with Zog’s coming to power. Throughout Ahmet Zog’s regime until April 7, 1939, when we were placed under Italian occupation, mutual communication between the two countries through their representations in the respective countries has been functioning regularly. From 1939 to 1945, relations with the Italian state were frozen, due to the Second World War, since we were also one of the countries that was occupied by the Italian fascists.
The period of fascist and communist dictatorships in Italy and Albania is the darkest and most bitter part of the history of relations between our two countries. The Peace Treaty with Italy was signed in February 1947 in Paris and entered into force on September 15, 1947. In May 1949, diplomatic relations at the legate level were restored, after continuous requests from the Italian side. On February 2, 1954, the Extraordinary Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic in Tirana presented his credentials. Since the first years after the war, the Italian Governments, in their policy towards Albania, condemned the fascist aggression on April 7, 1939, attributing it to fascism and considering it only a historical fact. They have also recognized the sovereignty of our country and the existing borders.
After the exit of our country, in 1968, from the Warsaw Treaty, efforts were made by the Italian side to get closer to the Albanian government. Some development of relations with Italy was seen in the 80s. In this period there were exchanges of various delegations, visits of members of the government, an increase in the volume of commercial and cultural exchanges.
During the 90s, especially after the political changes in Albania, the relations between the two countries had a significant boost. Italy in the beginnings of democracy stood out as one of the most important strategic partners of our country, assisting and contributing to institutional reforms, economic reforms and the consolidation of the Rule of Law. Furthermore, bilateral relations were characterized by intense activity in the political-diplomatic and social-economic fields.
The cooperation between our countries in this new phase became multidimensional and multifaceted. Italian support became present in almost all fields in our country, reconfirming the fact that Italy was Albania’s main bilateral donor, both in terms of funding and in the breadth of the spectrum of interventions. This intensification was further observed in terms of mutual meetings at high and very high levels, but also in frequent contacts at other levels, making the relations between the two countries take on a more concrete and effective content.
These relations kept growing and deepening until our days, turning into genuine partnership relations and relatively balancing the import-export ratio in the economic-commercial field. Thus, the progress of cooperation and the role that Italy has played towards us has seen intensity and quite positive developments.
In the relations between the two countries, in addition to the quantitative side, there are also qualitative elements, which have made them closer and confirmed the strategic character of our relations with Italy. Italy today supports the European integration of the countries of the Western Balkans, between them and Albania, as one of the priorities of its foreign policy.
This level of relations is in full accordance with the orientation of the Albanian government, which considers relations with Italy of primary importance and strategic partnership.
