I would like first of
all to congratulate President Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa
on her election to her high post and to assure her of
Albania’s full support throughout her mandate. I would
also like to express our deep appreciation to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his continuous
vision, leadership and efforts to revitalize and reform
the United Nations.
This year, based on the 2005 Summit Document,
Albania has undertaken concrete actions to promote the
three main pillars, namely, development, security and
human rights, in order to implement the ambitious
United Nations agenda of reforms. We are filled with
optimism at the positive results achieved by the
establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, the
Human Rights Council and the Central Emergency
Response Fund. Reform of the Secretariat and
management also give us optimism and lead us to
believe that the United Nations must continue these
reforms in order to respond in the best possible way to
new realities and challenges.
We reiterate our willingness and intent to work
closely with all delegations and to reach as much
agreement as possible by consensus in all significant
aspects of the reforms and we believe that solid and
inclusive management reform is needed for the
strengthening of the United Nations in order to
increase transparency and responsibility and achieve a
more effective and efficient administration of
resources. We support the efforts to reform the
Economic and Social Council, while we also believe
that reform in the Security Council will produce
progress and results, thanks to the efforts and
commitment of all member countries.
We welcome the High-level Meeting on
International Migration and Development, because we
believe that international migration that is supported by
the right policies can bring major advantages to the
development of the countries of origin and destination,
in terms of respecting and guaranteeing the basic rights
of migrants, while avoiding discrimination and double
standards.
The United Nations role also continues to remain
very important in the war against terrorism, especially
in securing an effective, global and intensive response
to this threat. We praise the recent consensual adoption
of the Global Strategy against Terrorism. We also feel
that the adoption of a comprehensive convention on
international terrorism would represent a precious
achievement furthering United Nations efforts to
combat terrorism. Albania is collaborating very closely
with all the United Nations bodies in the war against
terrorism, and the visits of the Monitoring Team,
established pursuant to Security Council resolution
1267 (1999), and the visit of the Security Council
Counter-Terrorism Committee, established pursuant to
Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), demonstrate
that Albania is fulfilling its obligations to prevent the
activity and financing of terrorist groups at the national
level.
We have supported Security Council resolution
1701 (2006) on the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, which
provides for a peaceful solution of the issue and the
sending of peacekeeping forces to that area. Albania
has joined other countries in giving financial support to
rebuild Lebanon.
The main orientation of Albania’s foreign policy
remains European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and
that is why the efforts of the Albanian State and society
are directed towards meeting European Union and
NATO standards. A few days ago, the European
Parliament ratified the Stabilization and Association
Agreement between Albania and the European Union,
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which places our country at the most important
stage — that of fulfilling the obligations that stem from
the Agreement, and all Albanian political groups and
the entire society are conscious of this. We all believe
that actual membership in the European Council and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, and the prospective accession to the EU and
NATO are part of the natural move towards
development, rather than an objective per se.
We have established relations based on active
cooperation and dialogue at the regional level with all
the countries concerned by actively working to
strengthen regional security and stability. Together
with the countries of the region, we have created an
agenda of joint action against terrorism, organized
crime, the circulation of arms and border management.
In the same way, we have undertaken concrete
initiatives to encourage economic development in the
region.
Albania believes that the main issue to be
resolved in our region continues to be that of Kosovo.
Kosovo has made great progress in terms of internal
stability; advancing the fulfilment of the required
international standards; improving inter-ethnic
relations; establishing and efficiently running central
and local Kosovar institutions; its serious and
professional commitment to the process of negotiations
with Belgrade through the intermediary of the Special
Envoy of the Secretary-General, President Ahtisaari;
and in its gradual integration into regional activities,
initiatives and structures as part of Kosovo’s
integrating process in the European Union and NATO.
The leadership of Kosovo, the representative
Kosovar institutions, the political opposition, civil
society, the media and the entire civil factor are
demonstrating social and political cohesion and
increasing unity and open and full cooperation with the
international factor to build a sovereign, independent,
democratic and multi-ethnic State integrated into the
European and Euro-Atlantic structures and at peace
with its neighbours. The United Nations Mission and
the commitments of the Secretary-General have also
played a significant part in that success.
The progress of talks between Pristina and
Belgrade in Vienna is positive. We encourage the
continuation of constructive dialogue and hope that the
Serbian side will do the same by demonstrating
realism, solidarity with the will of the international
community, and respect for the aspirations of the
people of Kosovo. Albania opposes any possible
scenario for the partition or disintegration of Kosovo,
which past experience suggests could entail conflict
and instability in the future.
We support a full and speedy solution to the issue
of the status of Kosovo that takes into consideration
the will of its inhabitants and guarantees functionality
within the Kosovar State and society and the freedoms
of the minority communities. A sovereign,
independent, democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovar
State with a clear Euro-Atlantic perspective will serve
the interests of peace and stability in the region and
beyond.
The view occasionally expressed that the
independence of Kosovo would encourage the
implementation of similar solutions to current
problems in other countries and regions does not seem
accurate to us. The solution of any problem must take
the historical and geographical context into account,
along with other considerations that exclude the search
for and mechanical application of inappropriate
analogies. Given the historical, juridical and moral
aspects of the issue of Kosovo, as well as the fact that
it evolved through the convulsions and wars that
accompanied the disintegration of the former
Yugoslavia, I believe that its solution in accordance
with the will of the citizens of Kosovo themselves is
entirely legitimate. In that light, the solution will also
mark the final stage of that disintegration and the
turning of a new page as part of democratic
developments in the Balkans over the past decade.
Albania is at an important phase in the process of
comprehensive institutional, legal and economic
reform with a view to adopting European models and
standards. We are committed to improving governance
at all levels to ensure that it adheres as closely as
possible to the interests of our citizens and the country.
The current Government has undertaken various
economic initiatives to liberalize procedures and
enhance our capacity to attract foreign investment. We
are aware that this objective can be achieved only
through reforms that realistically promote a
competitive and open market for unfettered initiative
that offers as many people as possible the opportunity
to conduct business or to be employed and is
coordinated with reforms in the priority public sectors.
Such reforms include increasing investment in
infrastructure and the energy, education and health
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sectors, complemented by effective social policies in
favour of social groups and individuals in need. Our
objective is for economic growth to contribute directly
to meeting the Millennium Development Goals by
making it the main factor in the reduction of poverty,
reducing the unemployment rate to the average level of
the developed European countries, and securing stable
and long-term economic growth that enhances
opportunity for future generations.
A comprehensive campaign against corruption is
part of our efforts to strengthen the rule of law and
develop the country. In that framework, concrete action
is being taken to implement legislative and institutional
reform in order to take preventive measures, narrow
opportunities for corruptive abuses, enhance public
transparency, eliminate conflicts of interest, improve
access to decision-making, and strengthen the
monitoring role of civil society, local communities and
the media.
We have also paid special attention to the fight
against organized crime, drug and human trafficking,
and money-laundering. Today we can state with full
conviction that those phenomena are being met with
the full power of the law and the country’s
consolidated structures, and in cooperation with the
international factor. That is why our results have been
significant.
Albania supports and contributes to a strong and
effective United Nations capable of meeting new
challenges, because we believe the Organization to be
based on the values and principles of multilateralism,
global partnership for development, and joint action to
strengthen collective peace and security to the benefit
of human rights, the rule of law and commitments
against terrorism.
In conclusion, allow me to affirm that my country
will be active in fulfilling the commitments and
obligations arising from its responsibilities within the
Organization and from those decisions that the General
Assembly will adopt at its sixty-first session.