Wednesday

29th Mar 2023

Opinion

Albania references mark new low in Brexit debate

The way the EU referendum campaign has been unfolding, leaving apart the wisdom of holding such a referendum at all, reveals trouble in the state of British politics.

The political elite is handling the question of Britain’s place in Europe with nonchalance and recklessness.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Instead of substance and pragmatism, we are getting hyperbole and empty slogans. Instead of focusing attention on the real issues and options, we get digressions and diversions and a healthy dose of xenophobia – especially towards Albania.

The strange appropriation of Albania, both by the Leave and Remain campaigns, exemplifies the sorry state of the debate.

It came to the fore when Leave campaigner Michael Gove spoke about Britain’s trade options after quitting the EU. He envisaged a free-trade zone that would include Balkan countries such as Albania.

In response, the Remain Campaign wasted no time in jumping on Albania to ridicule Gove’s plans.

It ran a mobile billboard depicting the Albanian flag flying from Buckingham Palace, with the sneering caption: “The Leave campaign want us to quit the Single Market and be like ‘Albania’. Seriously.”

For days it became the headline and hallmark of the Remain campaign’s presence on the social media.

It is fairly obvious that the message this slogan conveys is not meant for people who would have moral concerns about doing business with Albania. Quite the opposite. It targets those who would not like to be associated with Albania at all.

Hence, voting to leave Europe would not be just bad economics but also an affront to the British self-image and identity.

The irony is that Gove has also discovered the potential of using Albania as identity blackmail. He is telling people to get out of Europe precisely because one day Albania might become a member.

Reductionist approach

Beyond such gratuitous exploitation of xenophobia to stir up the mob and nudge it in two opposing directions, the derogatory portrayal of Albania demonstrates the poverty of the debate and a failure of both camps to make their case on merit or substance.

The disarray and hollowness of the Leave Campaign could hardly be any greater. Its capacity to come up with an alternative to Europe has not amounted to more than a list of countries ranked in no particular order, including Norway and Switzerland, Albania and Mexico or Canada, whose example Britain could follow and flourish outside Europe. They leave it to people’s imagination to figure out the details.

The Remain Campaign has not fared much better. Rather than offering a holistic and positive vision about the value of remaining in Europe, it has expended a great deal of energy reacting to flimsy proposals from the Leave Campaign or concentrating on the dire economic consequences of leaving Europe.

Its reductionist approach is a hallmark of poor imagination in capturing the manifold greatness of the European project as well as in addressing the multiple reasons of why some people fear and want to abandon it.

Most importantly, by having both sides rely on similar arguments and tactics, they deprive the voter of real alternatives. This defeats the purpose of having two “camps” in the debate in the first place.

This is not the sober, rational debate we should be having on whether Britain should stay in or leave Europe.

In such a momentous vote for both Britain and Europe, we need Britain to show us how a mature democracy can deliberate and decide.

Above all, we need to see the Britain of Magna Carta and of parliamentary sovereignty, and not of the mob, roused by vacuous or xenophobic slogans. Britain can do better than this; it owes it to itself and the world.

Gjovalin Macaj is a tutor and researcher in International Relations at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

Brexit Briefing

Stereotypes abound in divided Britain

Remain or leave? As the EU question splits the British population down age, political leanings and education, neither side understands the motivation of the other.

Interview

EU outshines Russia in Western Balkans

Russia cannot compete with the EU for attractiveness in the Western Balkans, but can play an 'obstructive' role, Albania's foreign minister said.

Brexit Briefing

War, trade and project fear

While prime minister Cameron is scaring voters by saying Brexit could threaten peace in Europe, leaders of the campaign to leave the EU propose a dangerous leap into the unknown.

The overlooked 'crimes against children' ICC arrest warrant

An unprecedented component of this announcement has received less attention: the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Putin's commissioner for children's rights. Lvova-Belova is accused of deporting and unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Column

What does China really want? Perhaps we could try asking

Perhaps even more surprising to the West was the fact that the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal was not brokered by the United States, or the European Union, but by the People's Republic of China. Since when was China mediating peace agreements?

Column

What does China really want? Perhaps we could try asking

Perhaps even more surprising to the West was the fact that the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal was not brokered by the United States, or the European Union, but by the People's Republic of China. Since when was China mediating peace agreements?

Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity

From the perspective of international relations, the EU is a rare bird indeed. Theoretically speaking it cannot even exist. The charter of the United Nations, which underlies the current system of global governance, distinguishes between states and organisations of states.

Latest News

  1. The overlooked 'crimes against children' ICC arrest warrant
  2. EU approves 2035 phaseout of polluting cars and vans
  3. New measures to shield the EU against money laundering
  4. What does China really want? Perhaps we could try asking
  5. Dear EU, the science is clear: burning wood for energy is bad
  6. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  7. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  8. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting
  2. EFBWWEU Social Dialogue review – publication of the European Commission package and joint statement of ETUFs
  3. Oxfam InternationalPan Africa Program Progress Report 2022 - Post Covid and Beyond
  4. WWFWWF Living Planet Report
  5. Europan Patent OfficeHydrogen patents for a clean energy future: A global trend analysis of innovation along hydrogen value chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us