The Diaspora and its Summits, or Odysseus Does Not Long for Ithaca

2026-04-25 08:31:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

Odysseus searched for years to return to Ithaca. But perhaps the myth has lied to us about one thing: it wasn't just nostalgia that kept him alive. It was the need not to lose himself. Ithaca was not just a place. It was his memory, it was the meaning of his journey. And, above all, it was a door that never closed. First of all, by Penelope who unraveled at night what she wove during the day.

As for our diaspora today? It is invited to summits.

Carefully curated summits, with beautiful speeches, flags waving for hours, and a temporary sense of belonging that lasts as long as an official photo. There the diaspora is embraced, applauded, declared the “greatest national asset,” and then left at the airport again, in transit between two worlds, with no real Ithaca to return to.

The problem is not that Albanians are leaving. They will always leave. The problem is that Albania no longer welcomes them.

The summits have become a false substitute for the missing politics. They are a grand theater where the government speaks about the diaspora, but rarely with it. A scenography where the immigrant is transformed into a symbol, not a citizen. In emotional capital, not a political voice.

And this is more dangerous than forgetting: it is instrumentalization. The diaspora does not need decor. It needs a door.

A door that opens with real votes, not with promises. With policies that connect it to the country, not just to goods. With institutions that do not see it as a seasonal ATM, but as part of the body of this country. Because if the diaspora is in search of the "missing Ithaca", then the state is the sea that continues to keep it away.

Herein lies the paradox: the more people talk about the diaspora, the less is done about it.

The Odyssey returned, because there was a place to return. Today, many Albanians abroad no longer have this luxury. Not because they don't want to, but because they don't believe. Because the door they left open, over the years, is no longer there, or has been closed, or has been replaced with a summit podium and some big empty words.

The question should not be asked: the diaspora longs for Albania and can contribute to it by returning.

The question is: does Albania still have room for the diaspora, beyond photos and speeches?

An Ithaca that exists only at summits is no longer a homeland. It is an illusion.

And the diaspora contributes better to Albania where it is than in Albania./ CNA