Albanian leaders angry at Finnish OSCE diplomat
Newspaper report: Tirana government demands departure of Osmo Lipponen
Osmo Lipponen
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The head of the Albanian mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Ambassador Osmo Lipponen, has come under sharp attack by the Albanian government and party leaders in the country.
The mass-circulation newspaper Respublika writes that the government of Prime Minister Fatos Nano wants the Finnish diplomat to leave the country.
Neritan Ceka, the leader of the small Democratic Union party, has said that he plans a special "Lipponen go home" demonstration in September.
Osmo Lipponen himself is taking a calm view of the situation. He says that he has operated completely within the OSCE agenda. In any case, he is scheduled to leave Tirana in October to go to the United States, where he will take up the post of Finnish Consul General in New York.
Lipponen has had a key role in the drafting of Albania’s new election law, and the law on restoring property. However, the Albanian government and parties have been taken a critical view of the process.
Lipponen recently delivered a very critical report of the situation in Albania to the OSCE in Washington. According to Respublika, the Albanian government felt that Lipponen had harmed democratic development in Albania, and hurt the reputation of Fatos Nano’s government.
"The real reason for the talk is that the government sees the presence of the OSCE as a stigma, and it is trying to force my successor to his knees. In this way it is trying to narrow our mandate in Albania. It has always done so whenever there has been a change in the head of the mission. The Prime Minister has found it difficult to swallow the criticism in my report, and consequently has labelled it as anti-Albanian activity", commented Lipponen in Tirana.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 6.8.2004 - TODAY |
 Albanian leaders angry at Finnish OSCE diplomat |
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