Albania

It is a particular honour for me to address this session of the General Assembly because I stand here as the representative of a country, Albania, that is currently serving on the Security Council for the first time in its history. That responsibility lends special importance to our role in this organ and beyond. We gather here each September, and 77 years since its establishment, the United Nations has only gained in its universal appeal, serving as the parliament of humankind, the forum where we speak to each other and listen to the world. Like nowhere else, the world converges here. We share our successes and progress, outline issues and challenges, express worries and fears, highlight crises and tensions, and talk about agreements and discords, but above all we bring a joint desire for a better world. In these nearly eight decades, we have witnessed uninterrupted change, profound transformation, unprecedented mobilization, continued solidarity and an all-time imperative of the need to work together. As a result, the world has known undeniable progress on many tracks. On the other hand, we must never forget that our journey has been bumpy. Many times, we have also witnessed terrible setbacks and even reversals of progress. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to man-made catastrophes, ill-conceived policies based on narrow national politics and short-sighted interests fuelled by populism, nationalism and greed for domination. That is why this place at this time each year is the yearly check-up of the health of the world. We may sometimes have the impression that we say too much of the same thing and that we needlessly and too often repeat each other. I disagree. If committing to peace and security, to development and prosperity, to upholding international law and respecting human rights or to engaging in genuine efforts to mitigate climate change is repeating each other, then we are doing the right thing. Unfortunately, this year our hopes and beliefs have been bitterly shattered and our assurances broken by an unprovoked, unjustified and premeditated war of one country against another on the European continent — the brutal aggression of Russia against its neighbour, Ukraine. Russia’s war of choice is against Ukraine and its people; not only that, but it is also a brutal assault on international Law, a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and a very direct threat to the European security architecture. It is an open battle between an aging, cynical tyranny and a young, growing democracy. While we all, in our own way and with our respective means, try individually and collectively to project ourselves into the future, one country, led by an illusion of grandeur from bygone times, has decided to drag the world backwards and go against everything we have built over decades. This is unacceptable. We will continue to stand in full solidarity with Ukraine and its people, and, like many other countries, help them in any way we can to defend themselves. Their fight is also ours, and I hope that all Members of the United Nations share the core principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and the right to independently decide on their own future, without fear or interference. Shying away from this defining battle between those principles and all their antitheses is shying away from the duty to protect ourselves, our countries and our children. While the world expects Russia to come to reason, stop the war and engage in peace negotiations, just a few days ago the Kremlin made another choice, that of escalation, announcing a partial mobilization that would deepen the conflict and bring more crimes, more victims and more misery, but also more shame on Russia itself. Sham referendums are being conducted in some parts of the occupied Ukrainian under the threat of the gun. It is hard to imagine that anyone here can silently accept such disgraceful disregard of laws, rules, norms and practices that govern relations among States in the twenty-first century. These actions run contrary to international law and not only do not reflect the free will of the Ukrainian people but also offer a miserable show of detachment from everything that brings us together under the roof of the United Nations. We condemn such actions engineered in Moscow and will not recognize any such lawlessness. In the world we want, impunity should not be a shelter for those who must answer for their deeds. Albania is fully committed to accountability globally and to fighting impunity everywhere, not only to provide justice to victims but also to prevent future atrocities. That is why Albania calls for and supports work towards the adoption of a convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. That new instrument would fill a significant gap in the current international framework and facilitate international cooperation to protect civilians. The world is never a quiet place and there are many serious challenges that need to be properly and immediately addressed. We face serious challenges from open conflict in many parts of the world. Many countries are subject to intolerable seizure of power by force. Terrorism remains a serious threat to peace and security. At a time when a multitude of crises have plunged the world into turmoil, including from unacceptable nuclear threats, I would like to call the attention of the Assembly to another crucial issue, closely linked and with a huge impact on peace and security: cybersecurity. Technology is nowadays part of every aspect of our lives. In Albania, 95 per cent of services to the citizens and business are offered online. These user-friendly systems save time and energy, drastically improve efficiency and quality, and are the best tool to eliminate endemic corruption. Last July, however, Albania was the target of an unprovoked, large-scale cyberattack. The Government’s entire digital infrastructure was under sustained and coordinated assault, with the clear aim of destroying it, paralysing public services, stealing data and electronic communications from government systems, creating chaos and fomenting tension in the country. A lengthy and thorough in-depth investigation, conducted in cooperation with the best existing world expertise on cyberterrorism, has now confirmed beyond any doubt that the cyberattack that sought to bring a sovereign country to its knees was a State-sponsored aggression, orchestrated and carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is why, in the face of a such blatant breach of the norms of responsible State behaviour in cyberspace in peacetime, which include refraining from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public, the Government of Albania was left with no other choice but to sever diplomatic relations with Iran. We hope that this forced extreme measure will be an example and a deterrent to anyone who supports or sponsors such abhorrent actions against sovereign States. We urge the United Nations, including the Security Council, to focus more seriously and concretely on addressing cybersecurity by investing in prevention and helping Member States build resilience. Albania is a member of the Balkan community, a part of Europe that has had its share of very troubled history. One need only mention the word “Balkans” and, I would bet, images stained by bloody wars and brutal crimes will come to everyone’s mind. One would rightly recall the scars of repression and oppression, genocide in Srebrenica and brutal ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. None of that is or will be forgotten. Accountability has and will continue to be called for, and we must redouble our efforts to guarantee its unhindered course. This requires a resolved commitment to the ideals of justice and, above all, to cooperation between parties. Justice lies in the foundations of any effort for long-lasting peace, stability and prosperity. But justice is served with facts, proof and evidence, not with fiction or distorted reality. I cannot but share here a terrible example of that, which should serve as a lesson to all the word and, first and foremost, the democratic world. In 2011, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a report, compiled by a zealous parliamentarian who goes by the name Dick Marty, accusing the Kosovo Liberation Army of the despicable crime of organ trafficking. Mr. Marty should have been paid as a storyteller, but never trusted as a rapporteur of the Council of Europe. His report was shocking, and not only did many believe it at the time, but it became the key factor in enhancing the idea of and establishing the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. It also became one of the worst cases of distorted reality, a kind of manifesto for worldwide propaganda against Kosovo’s independence. Every investigative effort has been made during these 11 long years to prove those allegations nationally, regionally and internationally — to no avail. Nothing — not a single shred of evidence or proof — was found anywhere, in Kosovo or anywhere else, regarding the alleged trafficking of organs. Yet, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which were founded on the basis of that report, arrested Kosovo’s sitting President, Hashim Thagi, without indictment. He waited a year in detention until he was formally indicted. I would ask everyone here to imagine for a moment their president, prime minister or country leader being removed from office in a third country and kept there in custody for a whole year without any formal indictment by a body created and sponsored by a community of democratic countries. And guess what? Not a single word of the entire indictment that came next has anything to do with the Council of Europe’s report on the alleged crime of organ trafficking. It is a complete fantasy. Is this not a monumental failure of international politics? This is not about a person. It is not about a court procedure. This is about inflicting an undue stain on a country and its history. Nevertheless, exactly because democracy and its institutions have, among many virtues, that of repairing their faults and errors, we strongly believe that, based on this crying lack of any evidence whatsoever, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will honour the truth and accept Albania’s request to produce a follow-up report and, although the damage has been done, help restore the credibility of such an important international organization as the Council of Europe. We will never give up on this truth, and we will not stop honouring all of those who have given their lives for freedom and independence, and against whom nobody, in anybody’s name, can cast a single speck of dirt. I will say a few more words on the Western Balkans, not of the past but of the future — the one that we are working to build together. You need only turn that region in any way you want, and you will find a lot of fuel for division and toxicity. But we in Albania have realized that the best way to advance is to do so together, with shared benefits as sovereign countries but close partners; as national players joined by a common enterprise, with our specific interests as part of a common framework that responds to our citizens. This brought us, together with North Macedonia and Serbia, to launch the Open Balkans initiative, a platform open to all Balkan countries — not just the three of us but Montenegro and Kosovo, Bosnia and Tiirkiye, Greece and further — as an investment for everyone and part of the wider, common European project. The best message of the Open Balkans that I want to share today is that you do not need to agree on everything to leave a dark past behind and build step by step a common, bright future by dealing with your disagreements in an increasingly gracious way and by finding ever more good reasons to resolve those disagreements. By strengthening its relations with Serbia and moving forward together to boost bilateral and regional cooperation, Albania has not and will not move an inch from its firm position in support of the need for every country represented here that has not yet done so, including first and foremost Serbia, to recognize the Republic of Kosovo. It is high time for Kosovo and Serbia to move beyond the current stalemate in their dialogue and to work bravely towards a comprehensive peace agreement by doing their respective parts to adopt a breakthrough document backed by the European Union and the United States. Dialogue is not just a better way; it is the sole and unique way to deal with issues, however difficult they may appear, however complex they may be. I remain convinced that Open Balkans will only help facilitate this process, to the benefit of all: Albanians and Serbs, Kosovo and Serbia, but also for the entire region and the wider Europe. Despite all the worries and challenges that keep us awake at night, we should not lose hope, we should keep trying and renew efforts in order to put universality at the heart of what we say and what we do at the national, regional and global levels. More than ever, in today’s shaken world, we need to commit ourselves to our fundamental universal values and acknowledge that we constitute a community of fate, despite our different national perspectives and interests. Global warming will not distinguish between North and South, and the rise of the sea level will not stop at any shore. If the pandemic that shook the world to the core, has taught us anything, it is a very simple lesson, that no one is immune until everyone is. It is in that spirit that Albania acts in the region, in Europe, including here, at the General Assembly and in the Security Council, that the world expects rightfully to deliver, to stand up and save lives, to prevent and re-solve conflict not to be paralyzed or held hostage. Let me conclude by quoting a beautiful African proverb, which says it all about our United Nations: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”