It is a special honour to deliver this speech as the representative of a country that for the first time in its history is joining the Security Council, as a non-permanent member for the 2022-2023 term. The significance of that event for a State that until not so long ago was considered one of the most isolated and repressive countries in the world, and the sense of responsibility with which we take up that role, cannot be overstated. I would like to start by thanking all the States Members of the United Nations for their overwhelming support and trust.
Albania brings to the Security Council the perspective of a small but engaged country, aware of the burdens of the past and the challenges of the future, which has experienced first-hand the limits of isolationism and has discovered the opportunities of multilateral cooperation. Albania is now a country characterized by a respect for differences, tolerance of different religions and an appreciation of the contribution that every culture brings. We will sit on the Security Council with a clear agenda of priorities that reflect what modern Albania stands for — the promotion of peace and security; the peaceful resolution and mediation of conflict; respect for the rule of law and human rights for all; the increased participation of women and youth in decision-making; universal adherence to and full implementation of all non-proliferation and disarmament treaties and conventions; concrete and continued active commitment to the fight against international terrorism and violent extremism.
It is a special pleasure to return to this great house of peace in person and to be able to share our thoughts on today’s world, including my country’s efforts in facing one of our biggest shared challenges, the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has inflicted terrible pain everywhere for more than 18
months. Like every other corner of the world, Albania has suffered from this devastating scourge. Today more than half of the Albanian population is vaccinated, and we expect to have the whole recommended population fully vaccinated within the next 10 months.
One of the big lessons of this tragedy is that no country can face it alone, and we now know that no one will be safe until everyone is. As we have seen far too often, without cooperation, solidarity and joint actions, the price we pay, individually and collectively, will only be higher. That is why at the height of the COVID-19 crisis last year, dozens of Albanian doctors and nurses went to Italy to help their colleagues in the Lombardy region; in return, we have been fortunate and grateful to welcome Italian doctors’ assistance in the same fight at home. In that regard, I owe heartfelt thanks to the many who have helped us — to Turkey, which at really difficult moments made it possible for us to obtain the necessary doses to start mass vaccination; to the European Union Commission, which fought hard to speed up the provision of vaccines from the European Union to Albania and the Western Balkans; and also to the Governments of Italy, Greece, Croatia and Latvia, which were there for us with their vaccine donations, and to the Governments of Poland, Austria and Denmark, which have pledged to help us along the way. I cite those examples here in order to remind us all that only a common approach based on deeper solidarity, continued assistance and uninterrupted cooperation will enable us to prevail in this war for life. The sharp inequality in vaccine access — the only way to stop the virus — has once more highlighted how urgently we need a different approach, with global initiative, inclusiveness, solidarity and fairness, as well as trust in science. That is why we continue to advocate for international cooperation and support the proposal for a new international treaty on pandemic preparedness and response. We must be and stay together and resist any temptation to succumb to isolationism and nationalism. It is urgent that we improve vaccine access for all, because unvaccinated people carry the high risk of enabling the emergence of more dangerous and deadly variants that could reverse the gains so painfully made and expose us all to even more dire consequences.
If the 75 years of long and strong experience of the United Nations has taught us anything, it is that challenges to peace, development, justice, health and security need the contribution of all — rich and poor, big and small. We firmly believe that 75 years after its founding, the United Nations remains the cornerstone of the multilateral rule-based world order.
With dialogue and concerted efforts, through the United Nations system as a whole, humankind has made remarkable gains in peace, security and development, in respect for human rights and human dignity, in empowering women and motivating youth, in helping hundreds of millions of people leave poverty behind. We must continue to build on these achievements. The people — our fellow citizens — are right to ask for more, for better and faster initiatives, and we must be up to the task.
Let us remind ourselves that our future, the future of humankind, is shaped by the way we respond and cooperate in the present. Multilateralism is challenged when selfish nationalism prevails. This is one of the most important lessons of the past. Multilateralism can be slow and sometimes frustrating, and it does not always produce quick results, but a world without shared rules, obligations and multilateral institutions is a nightmare that we know all too well.
We therefore cannot afford to lose faith in the multilateral system. We must work to reform it, not to undermine it, and certainly not abandon it. We share the Secretary-General ‘s concerns in his report entitled Our Common Agenda, and we think that all States Members of the United Nations have the responsibility to contribute to increasing the functionality of multilateral institutions and mechanisms in order to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.
It is exactly in this spirit that Albania successfully chaired the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2020, as part of its continuing engagement and efforts to strengthen peace, human rights, cooperation and equality in the OSCE area. The Ministerial Council of Tirana agreed on several new commitments on combating transnational organized crime, countering corruption and preventing torture in the OSCE region.
Climate change is another key priority in our national agenda. We do not need to have repeated extreme weather events, catastrophic flooding and unbearable heat waves to understand that the continued loss of biodiversity and the unsustainable use and degradation of ecosystems are causing profound and adverse consequences to millions of people and threatening peace and security. Convinced of the urgency to curb greenhouse-gas emissions in line with
the Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in July 2019, Albania became the first country in the region with an endorsed strategy on climate change and related action plans, with policy objectives and concrete actions designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. A special law on climate change was adopted in December 2020.
Further, in support of the objectives of the European Union (EU) Green Deal, Albania and other Western Balkan countries signed two declarations in November 2020, one on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and one on developing a common regional market with a view to making the economy sustainable and climate neutral by 2050. As a net clean-energy producer, Albania is also actively engaged in doing its part to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 45 per cent in the next decade and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The European integration process represents an anchor for Albania’s future, and we look forward to the first intergovernmental conference to be held in accordance with the decision of the European Council to open accession negotiations with Albania. I have said it in Tirana, in Brussels and everywhere, and I want to repeat it from this rostrum: Albania has been ready for some time, and it is waiting for the EU to do its part.
European integration is a national priority goal. It is also a region-wide aspiration and the source of inspiration in a completely transformed regional context. All six Western Balkan countries have agreed to enhance economic cooperation by developing a common regional market based on EU rules and standards. We have entered the new and ambitious phase of cooperation, and, through the Open Balkan initiative, we are also working to concretely implement the four EU fundamental freedoms — freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital — as proof that our region has taken ownership of those principles. We are convinced that it will generate economic growth, reduce unemployment, increase trade, investment and employment in the Western Balkans, and last but not least, make peace irreversible and help the resolution of conflicts once and for all.
The history of the United Nations is one of uninterrupted enlargement. It started with 50 members in San Francisco, and we are now at 193. Still, this large Assembly is not and will not be complete without one of the States of our region: the Republic of Kosovo.
More than once, the General Assembly has heard me call for the recognition of the independence of Kosovo from this rostrum. It is not an obsession, nor do I mention it just to pay lip service to the cause. It is an invitation to acknowledge the new realities in the heart of Europe, through the Balkans region, where a new State was born, with the help of an international community committed to the cause of freedom, human rights and self-determination. But that work needs to be finished, and I want to reiterate this goal and do so because reality has shown to us— to the Kosovars, to the Serbs, to all the people of the Balkans, to the Europeans, and to everyone anywhere who wants to see that an independent sovereign Kosovo, a reality that is already 13 years strong — has brought more peace and stability to the region than it knew before, contributed to moving on from the bitter past and is undeniably part of the shared future of the Western Balkans.
Albania supports a dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia that would lead to mutual recognition between two States — two neighbours — as the only alternative. Every day without such an agreement is a day lost, a day stolen from the youth of both countries, a day taken out of their shared future. I say it in a friendly way but with absolute conviction: only wisdom, courage and vision will finally liberate Serbia from the burden of its past.
Before concluding, let me say a few words about Afghanistan. It is our duty to do whatever we can not to abandon the Afghan people, who find themselves once more at a crossroads. We must do whatever we can to preserve the undeniable achievements of the last two decades and resist, indeed prevent, any return to the age of the darkness that the world had seen before.
As dramatic events were unfolding in front of our eyes, we could not stand idle. Despite limited capacities for receiving immigrants, but with unconditional humanitarianism, we opened our doors to Afghan refugees. We did just as we had done in other critical moments of our history, when we saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, thereby becoming the only country in Europe to have more Jews after the war than it had before the war, or when we welcomed half a million of our Kosovo brothers and sisters escaping the hell of ethnic cleansing in 1999.
We welcomed Afghan refugees because we have a moral duty to be in solidarity with those in danger. We owe it to our own history as the refugees we were until
30 years ago. We also owe it to our children, who we believe should learn not just by words but also by deeds that in this life there is a time to get and there is a time to give.
As the Nobel Prize laureate, the Albanian saint, Mother Teresa, said, even when we cannot do great things, we can still do small things with great love. We are humbly doing our part.