Please allow me, Sir, to
congratulate you on your election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-second session and to
wish you great success in that very important job. I
would also like to thank the outgoing President,
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her valuable
contribution to the General Assembly. I also wish to
congratulate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his
leadership, his great efforts in support of peace and
cooperation in the world and his contribution to
strengthening the United Nations and its institutions.
As a representative of a country that suffered one
of the most totalitarian of post-Second World War
dictatorships, it is my deep conviction that defending
and promoting freedom and its values and supporting
oppressed peoples in order that they may free
themselves from tyrannical regimes that continue to
produce human suffering, poverty, violence and
terrorism should be the main priority of the
Organization. In that context, I would like to say that
Central Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans and the
entire world are now freer and safer without the likes
of Mullah Omar, Saddam Hussein and Slobodan
Milosevic. I would like to take this opportunity to
welcome the message of hope that President George W.
Bush and other leaders have sent from this rostrum to
all the peoples of the world still living under tyrannical
regimes.
Albania is a small country, but one with a clear
vocation and determination to strengthen freedom and
democracy for its citizens. Albania is also deeply
committed to making its modest contribution to peace
and security in the world. We have established close
cooperation with friendly countries and international
organizations in the fight against terrorism. In that
regard, our peacekeeping units have served or are
serving in Bosnia, Georgia, Afghanistan and Iraq. I am
delighted to inform the Assembly that, in that same
spirit, my Government has decided to contribute
another platoon to United Nations peacekeeping
operations.
Albania has also been a staunch supporter of
international efforts to limit the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and the unlawful use of
small arms and light weapons, which pose a serious
threat to peace, security and stability. In that context,
among other measures, we committed ourselves to the
full destruction of our stockpile of chemical weapons.
In July 2007, Albania became the first country in the
world free of chemical materials and armaments of any
kind. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
Governments of the United States, Germany, Italy,
Greece and Switzerland, which provided valuable
financial and technical assistance to achieve that
important objective.
We are successfully implementing a number of
very important programmes in cooperation with the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
UNICEF and many other United Nations agencies.
Albania became part of the effort to reform the United
Nations by voluntarily joining the One United Nations
programme as a pilot country. We are currently
working with United Nations agencies in order to test
the One United Nations concept and to develop new
approaches and models for partnership in the areas of
development, humanitarian assistance and the
environment. The first results of the project are truly
very encouraging. We are fully committed to making
every effort in order to ensure that the initiative can
become a success story.
European integration and membership in NATO
are two main objectives for Albania. We are committed
to undertake any reform and take any step to achieve
those goals. A year ago, we signed a Stabilization and
Association Agreement with the European Union (EU).
We are working seriously in every way to fulfil its
standards and obligations. At the same time, we have
undertaken thorough reforms of our armed forces, with
the assistance of many NATO member countries. We
are also working to strengthen the rule of law and
democracy in our country. We are hopeful that by the
time of the next NATO summit, in Bucharest, we will
be in a position to deserve an invitation to join the
alliance.
It was not long ago that the Balkans was the stage
for human tragedies, brutal wars and ethnic cleansing
based on the concept of a “greater country” and fuelled
by the extreme nationalism and racism of a nation that
was consumed by the idea of its own hegemony over
others. But in a few years, the Balkan countries have
managed to transit from the age of dictatorships, hatred
and conflicts into an age of peace, cooperation,
friendship and integration.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all
the Governments and taxpayers of the countries
members of NATO, the EU and the United Nations, as
well as the other organizations whose support and
assistance was so important in bringing about that
historic change. However, I believe that a final solution
to the issue of Kosova’s status that fully respects the
expressed will of its citizens for independence is a
fundamental precondition for durable peace and
stability, not only in Kosova but in the entire region as
well. Albania fully supported President Ahtisaari’s
project and the efforts of the Troika for the solution for
the final status.
Due to the lack of realism and the ghost of a
greater Serbia, Belgrade turned down President
Ahtisaari’s project, which sets forth and guarantees the
highest, by far, European standards for the Serb
minorities in Kosova, standards that, in truth, are much
more advanced than those enjoyed by the Albanians
living in southern Serbia.
Rejection of the Ahtisaari package is unhelpful
and proves that what matters first for Belgrade is not
the freedom and rights of Serbs in Kosova, but rather
the idea of a greater Serbia. Such a stance by Belgrade
has been encouraged by the Russian position in the
Security Council with regard to Ahtisaari’s project, a
position that, despite its motivation, does not
contribute to peace and stability in the region.
Claims that Kosova’s independence sets an
international precedent or lays conditions for the
creation of a greater Albania, as well as the fear of two
Albanian states in the Balkans, are unfounded. Those
who are interested in the truth and in reality can easily
realize that Kosova is a unique case, from both the
historical and current perspectives.
For more than five centuries, from the end of the
thirteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth,
Kosova was a part of the Ottoman Empire, inhabited
mainly by native Albanians whose roots and shelter
had been there since the very beginning. Only at the
start of the last century, in one of the greatest historic
injustices, Kosova was separated from the Albanian
territory and given in tribute to Serbia — for the sole
reason that it was part of an empire that lost the war.
Kosova is also a unique case in her sufferings.
During the past century, the implementation of the
Cubrilovic doctrine of extreme racism and
extermination against Albanians turned them into third-
class citizens and turned Kosova into an arena of ethnic
cleansing and real apartheid.
It is also a unique case because the last Serbian
genocide against Albanians, in 1999, which caused
thousands of atrocities among innocent populations,
multiple massive graves and the destruction and
burning of more than 130 thousand homes, schools and
hospitals, obliged the North Atlantic alliance to
undertake its greatest offensive to protect human rights
and freedom there.
Kosova is also a unique case from a legal
standpoint, because during Josip Broz Tito’s regime it
was a constitutional entity of the Yugoslav federation,
enjoying its veto rights in the federal Government.
During this time, Kosova chaired the Yugoslav
federation for several terms, based on the leadership
rotation principle within Yugoslavia.
The claim that the independence of Kosova could
lead to the creation of a greater Albania cannot be
farther from the truth. In reality, Kosova’s
independence will only end the fluidity of Albanians in
the Balkans, along with the idea of the creation of a
single Albanian State in the territories where they are a
dominant majority. The simple truth is that Kosova
Albanians have decided in their great project for the
future to join Brussels and not to join Tirana.
On the other hand, I would like to guarantee that
Albania remains determined to fully respect the
international borders of its neighbours, including those
of Kosova. Albania is closely collaborating and will
continue to cooperate bilaterally with all countries in
the region, including Serbia, in the process of regional,
European and Euro-Atlantic integration. I believe that
the concern about two independent Albanian States in
the Balkans is xenophobic. Two democratic States with
an Albanian majority will be two more countries
friendly to their neighbours.
I would like to urge the political leadership of
Kosova to refrain from taking unilateral actions. They
should continue, as they have done so far, to cooperate
with the Contact Group and the international
community in seeking a solution for the final status of
Kosova, with full respect for its will and the dignity it
deserves.
I would also like to take this opportunity to
congratulate the political leadership of Kosova for
submitting a treaty of reconciliation, friendship and
cooperation with Serbia — a treaty inspired by the
highest European values and the best of European
heritage. I hope and wish that Serbia would take up this
important opportunity, because I believe that peace and
coexistence between Albanians and Serbs in the
Balkans will best benefit both of these nations.