Shqipëria dhe Informbyroja
Albania and Cominform

Summary/Abstract: The PKSH was not a member of the Cominform. It remains unclear why the Yugoslav proposal to include it at the founding meeting of the communist organization was rejected by the Soviets. Albania was never invited to Cominform meetings, not even in the role of observer. As a matter of fact, the PKSH leadership expected to be invited to the June 1948 meeting, if only in recognition of their support of Stalin’s letters of March and April 1048. From 19 until 23 June 1948, the Cominform meeting focused solely on the “situation within the Yugoslav Communist Party.” The meeting produced a resolution pronouncing the Yugoslav response, among other things, as a confirmation of Belgrade’s self-exclusion from the family of communist parties (meaning also from the Cominform). That statement was published on 29 June 1948 in all the newspapers of the member parties of the Cominform. On the same day, party plenums were hastily convened in Belgrade and Tirana. The paper explains the sudden but intense Albanian fervor in denouncing the Yugoslav leadership, including the cancellation of all treaties, agreements, and accords. As it turns out, the “undying friendship bound by blood” between the Yugoslav and Albanian peoples was hardly built on principles of equality and a shared sense of partnership. Rather, it was based on a dynamic of dependency. As a result, these unequal relations bred considerable discontent and, even more importantly, a situation in which growing political, national, and power interests demanded more room and security than the relationship with Belgrade could provide. Numerous available archival sources, and especially Albanian ones, allow us to revisit these complex relations, assess the nuances, and draw conclusions on what has already been known and what is less known.

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