Institutions in Albania and the Titanic

2026-04-24 07:55:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

In April 1912, the Titanic, a marvel of engineering and science of the time, successfully navigated most of its journey, sailing just as its builders had predicted it would.

The "unsinkable" ocean liner sank due to human carelessness, indifference to the danger of which it was sufficiently and timely informed, the belief that "I am right" even when I see that I am not, the certainty, even in the last moments, that the problem would not affect "us", but would stop at the loss of "others".

There's a reason the Titanic metaphor never gets old: it's the story of an arrogance that believed itself invincible, of the orchestra that kept playing music as the water sank the ship.

And in this context, the institutions in Albania are not simply in crisis. They resemble an orchestra continuing its concert on a sinking ship.

The problem is not that “there are problems”. The problem is that institutions in Albania have lost their function. They are no longer mechanisms that protect the citizen, but structures that protect themselves and those who control them. They have become legal facades for decisions taken elsewhere and the decor of a democracy that is more of a demo(n)cracy.

As on the Titanic, there are classes here. There is a “first-class deck,” where decisions are made, where responsibility is selectively distributed, and where the law is interpreted according to interest. And there is a “lower (second-class) deck,” where the ordinary citizen faces bureaucracy, delays, injustice, and the constant feeling of being alone in the face of a system that does not listen to him.

Meanwhile, the “orchestra” continues to play. Sometimes with a waltz and often with a roar: press conferences, optimistic statements, reforms on paper, reports that speak of progress. A parallel reality where everything seems fine, while the water is at chest level. The irony is that no one denies the crisis anymore, it has simply become normal.

And like every Titanic, institutions in Albania have their captains. Those who give orders, who pretend to control the situation, who refuse to say the simplest and most difficult word: “we were wrong.” Admitting a mistake would require responsibility, and responsibility is precisely what Albanian institutions have learned to skillfully avoid.

But the story of the Titanic teaches us something else: it's not just the ship that sinks, the myth that sinks too. And the myth in Albania is this: that institutions function, that the state is there for the citizen, that justice is equal. With each passing day, this myth cracks a little more, until one day there is nothing left to keep the illusion afloat.

You're asking if the iceberg collision happened, rest assured. It happened a long time ago. The problem is: "Who will keep playing music and who will have the courage to admit that the ship is sinking?"/ CNA