“After the Italian minister, Dino Grandi, my father, Fuad Asllani, spoke, and the next day, a full 12 London newspapers wrote about our delegation’s speech…” / The unknown history of Albanian diplomacy

Part Two

Memorie.al / “During Zog’s time, it was more difficult to become a diplomat than it is today.” Uran Asllani, a scholar of Albanian diplomacy from 1914-1944 and the son of one of the most prominent Albanian diplomats of the 1930s, explains that a diplomat in that period had to pass through several “sieves” to be appointed to this position. In an exclusive interview, he recounts all the criteria that a person aspiring to become a diplomat had to meet. He also reveals the origins of Albanian diplomacy, which countries we established diplomatic relations with, and what their mission was.

Who are the most important figures in Albanian diplomacy of that era? In this article, we are also publishing the list of the names of diplomats from 1914-1944, and in the next issue; we will publish the list of all diplomats from 1944 to 2007.

                                       Continued from the previous issue

Mr. Asllani, what role did Albanian diplomats play in the international arena during that period?

It was June 1933. The representative of Albania at this conference should have been the Minister of Finance, but Zog appointed my father, (Fuat Asllani), since he was an Englishman. He also appointed the honorary consul in Vienna, who was in London, as a member of the delegation. The conference took place, and on one of the days of the conference, as was customary, the delegations were hosted for dinner by large corporations in honor of hospitality. At one of those dinners, my father and about 27 other delegations were invited to the steel corporation.

However, the steel corporation was a corporation that did not know diplomatic rules, protocol, and ceremonies. In diplomatic protocol, the official with the highest diplomatic rank, the ambassador, is placed in the place of honor. At that time, only the former empires had embassies. The others had Ministers Plenipotentiary. After the ambassador, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the first class is placed, but of the most important state.

They did not know this, but in the alphabetical order, it was “Albania,” so they placed my father next to the corporation’s president. The president stood up and gave a quarter-hour welcoming speech, with the archaic jargon of the English, “honored,” “much honored,” etc. Now one of the delegations had to return the greeting. My father was right next to the president.

At the back of the hall was an enemy of Albania, and consequently, someone my father disliked, the Italian Minister of Finance, Dino Grandi, Mussolini’s right-hand man, who later executed him. At that time, he was both the Minister of Finance and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He said to my father: “Get up and give the answer,” not knowing that my father knew English perfectly. My father stood up and gave a speech using the same jargon that the corporation’s president used. The next day, 12 London newspapers mentioned Albania for the speech.

How many Ministers Plenipotentiary did Albania have until 1939?

Until 1937, there were 8 Ministers Plenipotentiary of the first class and 3 Ministers Plenipotentiary of the second class, and these were: Mehmet Konica, Dhimitër Berati, Xhaferr Vila, Mehdi Frashëri, Fuad Asllani, Raul Fico, Lekë Kurti, Dhimitër Popa. Although he was a Minister Plenipotentiary of the first class, at that time he was not in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but was the Court Minister.

We had permanent legations with Ministers Plenipotentiary of full class rank in Washington, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Bucharest, Tokyo, Belgrade, Athens, Ankara, Sofia. Then we had consulates general of very important rank, which were in three cities in Germany: in Nuremberg, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. We had a consulate general in Marseille, Brussels, Thessaloniki, Istanbul, Milan, Bari, and many consulates. In Italy: Turin, Bologna, Brindisi, Trieste, Bitola, Ioannina, Constanța, Budapest, New York, etc.

Who were the most prominent figures in this field during those years?

We must start with Raul Fico, who honored himself and Albania. The assessment of foreign diplomats for him was also first class. Secondly, there was Xhaferr Vila, whose anti-Italian stance even caused the accident that led to his death. He was Minister Plenipotentiary in Rome, having conflicted several times with the Italian Ministers Plenipotentiary here in Albania.

Another important diplomat of that time was Dhimitër Berati. Perhaps my father, (Fuat Asllani), as well, because the importance is also in which states you are appointed. Also Eqerem Libohova, Xhemil Dino, etc. These were the most powerful representatives of diplomacy for almost 20 years. But there are many diplomats of a lower rank who served Albanian diplomacy with devotion.

LIST OF 80 ALBANIAN DIPLOMATS, FROM 1912 TO 1944

1. Jani Armodhi, consul in Egypt, in 1922
2. Ali Asllani, consul in Italy, in the years 1922-1925; ambassador in Bulgaria, in the years 1925-1926 and ambassador in Greece, from 1930 to 1932
3. Fuad Asllani, ambassador in England, in the years 1934-1935
4. Reshad Asllani, consul in Italy, in the years 1923-1924; consul in Bitola, in the years 1938-1939
5. Rexha Bega, consul in Turkey, in 1938
6. Xhaferr Belegu, consul general in Bari, consul in Italy in the years 1938-1939
7. Dhimitër Berati, consul general in Bulgaria, in 1924; ambassador in France in the years 1924-1925
8. Haki Blloshmi, consul in Boston, USA, from 1925 to 1929
9. Selaudin Blloshmi, ambassador in Romania, in the years 1926-1928
10. Kostandin Boshnjaku, ambassador in Turkey, in 1922
11. Kostandin Çekrezi, ambassador in the USA, in the years 1921-1922
12. Remzi Çelo, consul in Thessaloniki, Greece 1934-1939
13. Lazër Çeta, consul in Yugoslavia, in 1925
14. Sofokli Çomora, consul in Corfu, Greece, in the years 1928-1933
15. Ferid Dervishi, consul general in Bari, Italy, in the years 1925-1926; consul in Thessaloniki, Greece, in the years 1932-1933; consul general, in Turkey 1934-1936
16. Xhemil Dino, ambassador in Italy, from 1926 to 1931, and ambassador in England, in the years 1932-1933
17. Vasil Dogani, consul general in Romania in the years 1922-1936
18. Asdreni, consul in Romania in the years 1921-1926
19. Dervish Duma, consul in London, England, in the years 1936-1939
20. Rauf Fico, ambassador in Turkey, in the years 1926-1928; ambassador in Yugoslavia, in the years 1928-1929 and 1932-1937, ambassador in Greece in the years 1937-1938; ambassador in Germany, in the years 1938-1939
21. Mehdi Frashëri, ambassador to the UN, in the years 1926-1929
22. Mit’hat Frashëri, ambassador in France, in the years 1922-1923; Greece in the years 1923-1926
23. Qemal Frashëri, consul in Corfu, Greece, in the years 1925-1926
24. Xhemal Frashëri, consul in London, in the years 1925-1927; consul general in Bitola in the years 1935-1938; consul general in Istanbul, Turkey, 1938-1939
25. Shemzi Gabrani, consul in Bari, Italy, in 1925,
26. Gjergj Geco, consul general in Egypt, in the years 1934-1935; consul general in Ioannina, Greece, in the years 1935-1936
27. Rrok Gera, ambassador in Germany, in 1944
28. Fahredin Gjata, ambassador in Greece, in the years 1926-1927
29. Shaqir Hajrullahu, consul in Istanbul, Turkey, 1936-1938
30. Sabri Hamzaj, consul in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1926
31. Maksud Hulusi, consul general in Ioannina Greece, in the years 1937-1939
32. Remzi Janina, consul general in Ioannina, Greece, in the years 1926-1931
33. Qemal Jusfuti, consul general in Thessaloniki, Greece in the years 1934-1935
34. Angjelin Kakarriqi, consul in Corfu Greece, in the years 1938-1939
35. Vasil Kalluci, consul in Corfu, Greece, in 1926
36. Hamdi Karazi, consul in Italy, in the years 1927-1928, consul general in Corfu Greece in the years 1933-1934
37. Nikollë Kasneci, consul in Italy, in the years 1920-1921
38. Ndrio Katundi, consul in Yugoslavia, in the years 1922-1924
39. Stavri Katundi, consul in Bitola, in the years 1938-1939
40. Atlante Koçi, consul in Bulgaria, in the years 1936-1939
41. Mark Kodheli, consul general in Bari, consul in Italy, in the years 1927-1933
42. Xhahid Koka, consul general in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1938
43. Faik Konica, ambassador in the USA, in the years 1926-1939
44. Mehmed Konica, ambassador in England, in the years 1920-1925
45. Skënder Konica, consul in Bulgaria, in the years 1932-1934
46. Stelio Kostandini, consul in Egypt, in the years 1923-1925
47. Dhimitër Kosturi, consul in France, in the years 1928-1932; consul in Ioannina, Greece, in the years 1932-1935; consul general in Egypt, in 1935
48. Kostandin Kote, consul in Italy, in the years 1922-1923
49. Ceno Kryeziu, ambassador in Yugoslavia, in the years 1926-1927, ambassador in Czechoslovakia, in the years 1927-1934
50. Lec Kurti, consul in Bari, Italy in the years 1921-1922; ambassador in Greece, from 1925-1926; ambassador to the UN, in the years 1930-1935
51. Sotir Laci, consul in Greece, in the years 1936-1937
52. Nezir Leskoviku, consul in Istanbul, 1922-1925; consul general in Bulgaria, in the years 1932-1933; consul in Greece in the years 1936-1938
53. Xhavid Leskoviku, ambassador in Yugoslavia, in the years 1925-1926; ambassador in Turkey in the years 1933-1934, ambassador in Greece in the years 1934-1936
54. Asaf Libohova, consul in Bari, Italy, in 1939
55. Eqerem Libohova, ambassador in Italy, in the years 1925-1927, ambassador in France in the years 1933-1936
56. Maliq Libohova, consul in London, consul in England, in the years 1926-1927; consul general in Bari, Italy, in 1939
57. Tefik Mborja, ambassador in Italy, in the years 1923-1925
58. Kosta Meksi, consul in Bitola, in the years 1933-1934; consul general in Istanbul, Turkey in 1937
59. Qemal Mesarea, ambassador in Greece, in the years 1933-1934
60. Kostandin Mima, consul in Trieste, Italy, in the years 1925-1927
61. Gjergj Naçi, consul in Turkey, in 1937
62. Pandeli Nase, consul general in Egypt, in the years 1927-1934
63. Fan Noli, ambassador to the UN, in the years 1921-1922
64. Gjergj Pekmezi, consul in Austria, in the years 1921-1925; consul in Yugoslavia, in the years 1925-1926
65. Nik Pema, consul in Hungary, in the years 1923-1925
66. Dhimitër Popa, ambassador in Bulgaria, in the years 1932-1934
67. Nikollë Rrota, consul general in Austria, in the years 1921-1926
68. Çatin Saraçi, consul general in Bari, Italy, in 1925; consul in Austria, in the years 1926-1929
69. Xhemal Sojli, consul in Constanța, Romania, in the years 1921-1923
70. Rrok Stani, consul in Romania, in the years 1926-1927; consul general in Corfu, Greece, in the years 1937-1939
71. Stavro Stavri, ambassador in Yugoslavia, in 1925; ambassador in Greece, in the years 1926-1928
72. Avdyl Sula, consul in New York, USA in the years 1923-1925; consul general in Thessaloniki, Greece, in the years 1926-1927; ambassador in Egypt, in the years 1938-1939
73. Xhelal Shaska, consul in Bari, Italy, in 1938
74. Tahir Shtylla, ambassador in Yugoslavia, in the years 1927-1929
75. Koço Tashko, consul in New York, USA, in the years 1922-1924
76. Xhaferr Vila, consul in France and England simultaneously, in 1925; ambassador in Yugoslavia in the years 1929-1932, ambassador in Greece, in the years 1932-1933, ambassador in Italy in the year 1936-1938
77. Eqerem Vlora, ambassador in England, in the years 1927-1929, ambassador in Greece, in 1929
78. Iljaz Vrioni, ambassador in France, in the years 1925-1927
79. Asaf Xhaxhuli, consul general in Skopje, in the years 1933-1936; ambassador in Turkey, in the years 1938-1939
80. Zaharia Zamifresku, honorary consul in Romania, in the years 1921-1929 / Memorie.al

                                         To be continued in the next issue