Eric Wendt’s “new chapter”? A new sheriff has come to town

By Ylli Pata

The new American ambassador in Tirana has declared that his mission is a new political chapter for the country. Announcing the flag-raising at the diplomatic seat, the U.S. Embassy wrote:

“A new chapter begins in Albania! The United States Marine Corps raised the American flag at the official residence as Ambassador Wendt begins his duties.

Under President Trump’s leadership, our alliances are stronger when we stand together, share responsibilities and work for a more prosperous and secure future for both our countries.”

Beyond the protocol and ceremony — which for great countries like the U.S. carry their own political weight — the phrase “new chapter” is the essence of the political signal preceding the giant general who has taken over the American embassy.

Having presented his credentials to President Bajram Begaj, Ambassador Eric Wendt has held no other meeting, at least not publicly.

Apparently to keep the rollout of his public message in suspense until the ceremony the embassy will hold on October 2.

Yet “new chapter” says something, even if not much, about the American role in Tirana. Here, fantasies and conspiracies will not be lacking until October 2 — but “new chapter” ought to mean a great deal. The U.S. and Albania have a relationship unbroken since 1991, with its own phases in each ambassadorial appointment cycle, each ambassador naturally carrying a defined mission within the arc of his mandate.

To illustrate, one need only recall the diplomatic eras of American ambassadors. If William Ryerson’s mission was toppling the PPSH regime, his successor Joseph Lake’s was balancing power built shovel-by-shovel with the viagra of Berisha-Gazidede’s absolute power.

Marisa Lino in 1997 had a mission to save an allied country from collapse — and she did, and more; Ambassador Lino, whose car was shot at in the square in front of the university in the 1997 mayhem, did her utmost to temper the socialists’ euphoria of power. She had no honeyed relationship with Fatos Nano, as she sought a balancing of power.

Perhaps Ambassador Lino proved harsher than necessary with the late Nano, as subsequent developments showed — but the goal had another vision: that the U.S. does not want a polarized Albania but a reconciled one.

After Ambassador Lino came an ambassador of great importance to Albania, a visionary of tourist Albania.

Joseph Limprecht, very active in public opinion in promoting the state’s recovery after the 1997 meltdown, was also an admirer of Albania’s natural beauties — and lost his life to a heart attack in the highlands of Lura, which he never tired of promoting at a time when no one spoke of tourism.

After Ambassador Limprecht — a testament of love for this country — came General James Jeffrey, one of the great names of American diplomacy, as his superb Foreign Policy articles show to this day.

Ambassador James Jeffrey, a very senior State Department diplomat, came to Tirana to launch our region’s entry into NATO. From Tirana began the Adriatic Charter, and the Secretary of State himself came — that other great general, Colin Powell.

At that time came the American operation in Iraq, where the Balkan countries — Albania undoubtedly — did not hesitate for a moment to join the American coalition, which, though mocked in Europe by anti-Bush circles, created a political reality for Albania, where even the socialist left is definitively pro-American.

Then came Ambassador Marcie Ries, a classic diplomat who brought an institutional breath of an America changing under the spotlight of Senator Barack Obama — who became president and brought a new America, which changed a great deal, at no small cost to relations with Albanians, per the tradition set by the Clinton and Bush Jr. presidencies.

After Marcie Ries came an atypical diplomat to Tirana — a diplomat more human than bureaucrat. A high-level African American who, not only by family tradition but by his work, was regarded as “the intellectual of the State Department”.

Ambassador John Withers, remembered for his superb oratory but above all for the WikiLeaks release of his brilliant cables, which could serve as a better archive of the developments of that time. He was a high-caliber chronicler of developments in Tirana, bringing a positive spirit to public activities.

In my view, Ambassador Withers is the finest to have represented America in Tirana — an orator, cultured, in love with this country’s people, as he showed even when he left. Though he left over a Podesta lobbying betrayal paid for by the DP, with the complicity of Secretary Hillary Clinton.

But there is no doubt that, though it may have upset Ambassador Withers at first, time proved him right. To read his cables today is a marvel; they are relevant at every moment. He was the ambassador of truth. Plus, like the late Limprecht, he adored tourist Albania and never stopped praising tave kosi and other traditional recipes.

The rise of Albanian tourism did not come out of nowhere — these important, highly influential people in the world contributed to it.

After Ambassador Withers came Alexander Arvizu — the diplomat they said at the time was brought by the Podesta Group, the man who called Sali Berisha a “statesman” after the killing of four citizens on January 21, 2011.

Yet Ambassador Arvizu deserves credit for bringing the FBI to Tirana to investigate and find the culprit of the killings. Without his contribution we would have no proof of who shot at the four citizens.

After Ambassador Arvizu came Donald Lu — the ambassador of no-impunity, who waged a titanic fight with the actors who blocked the creation of SPAK and the Special Court. The spite toward him from Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta became a popular sport, so much that they attacked him even when he went on mission to Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. Lu, too, was a class diplomat, as he showed in big and important countries.

Yuri Kim succeeded Lu, marking her own distinct era — installing the justice reform and the normal, logical effort to back a new political class to face Edi Rama’s majority.

They cursed her, they insulted her — “Kimete”, tied to this one and that — yet today Yuri Kim is a high-level official at one of the world’s “seven sisters” of oil, precisely on account of her individual abilities.

But today there really seems to be a “new chapter”. J.D. Vance’s metaphorical line in Munich in 2024 — that “there is now a new sheriff in town” — now fully vindicated by Donald Trump’s presidency, with the arrival of a general as ambassador who, when he met President Begaj, looked like Hercules, is literal for Tirana. It truly seems a new sheriff has come to town.