Albania, 2005

Let

me first convey, on behalf of the people and the

Government of Albania, the most profound sentiments

of sympathy, friendship and solidarity to the people of

the United States and to President Bush with respect to

the human suffering and the material damage caused by

Hurricane Katrina.

I would like to wish Mr. Jan Eliasson every

success in carrying out his important mission. I take

this opportunity to assure him of the full cooperation of

my country in accomplishing the undertakings ahead of

us. Let me also join others in thanking Mr. Jean Ping

for the dedication he demonstrated as president of the

General Assembly at its previous session and for the

efforts he invested in the revitalization of our

Organization.

Albania aligns itself fully with the statement

made at the 9th plenary meeting by Mr. Jack Straw,

Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, on behalf of

the European Union.

I am privileged to address the Assembly on

behalf of the new Albanian Government, which took

office following recent parliamentary elections. I will

set out some of my country’s positions on issues of

concern to us all and outline my Government’s

strategic priorities in the field of foreign policy.

The fact that, just a few days ago, a large number

of heads of State and Government gathered at the

United Nations to assess the progress made in the

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals

and to debate the reform of the Organization should be

taken as a reaffirmation that multilateralism is a

driving force in global policy. That also serves once

again to confirm that we are living in a very complex

and multidimensional environment that clearly requires

comprehensive, global and coherent reactions.

The need for enhanced regional and global

cooperation has never been more pronounced. Albania

therefore supports the outcome of the High-level

Plenary Meeting, which reaffirms our faith in the

Organization, the importance of the core values and

principles of international cooperation, the global

partnership for development, concerted actions to

strengthen collective security and peace, the fight

against terrorism, promoting human rights and the rule

of law and the strengthening of the United Nations, in

particular its comprehensive reform. Albania believes

that, through concrete and speedy action, the sixtieth

session of the General Assembly will constitute an

important and meaningful step towards the

implementation of all the commitments to which I have

referred.

Albania believes that the United Nations should

be further strengthened in order to continue to play a

decisive role in the efforts of the international

community to create a safer, more stable and

prosperous world. We would like to reiterate our

appreciation for the efforts of the Secretary-General

with regard to reforming the United Nations. Albania

shares his view that the United Nations needs to have

the legitimacy and flexibility to adapt itself to the

circumstances of a changing world. The Security

Council clearly has enormous responsibility in that

regard. My country fully supports the reform of the

Security Council. It should be noted, however, that we

view Council reform from the standpoint of improving

its working methods and transparency and of adjusting

and improving the decision-making system. We firmly

believe that Members acting together have the

necessary power and capacity to achieve very broad

consensus on Council reform.

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The roles of the General Assembly, the Economic

and Social Council and the Secretary-General must not

be underestimated. Their potential has not yet been

fully explored. The success of the reform effort can be

assured if it is coherent and aimed at the Organization

as a whole. Albania is encouraged by the outcome

document of the High-level Plenary Meeting with

regard to the strengthening of the United Nations. We

reaffirm our willingness to work with all delegations to

achieve the broadest consensus possible on the most

important reform issues.

Albania believes that the Peacebuilding

Commission will be an essential and efficient tool for

developing more coherent, relevant and better funded

strategies and for giving timely political attention to a

country making the transition from conflict to

sustainable development. In that connection, the

reform of the United Nations will better enable the

Organization to improve the work of the international

community and assist countries in the post-conflict

phase.

We believe that the exchange of views on the

establishment of the Human Rights Council will be

completed soon. An action-oriented Council with a

credible membership will improve the quality of

United Nations efforts in the area of human rights.

Moreover, we fully support the strengthening of the

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,

including increasing its budget.

Albania believes that the initiative to establish a

Democracy Fund is an essential component of reform.

My country will make every effort to support the Fund.

Like other friendly countries, we consider it an

effective mechanism to support new democracies,

strengthen civil society and establish institutions

supporting the rule of law.

The numerous tragic events of recent years have

confirmed that terrorism, which has taken thousands of

innocent lives, is the most urgent threat facing the

world today. My country will remain committed to

fighting this evil. We support Security Council

resolution 1624 (2005), which was adopted during the

high-level summit. We also join the solemn appeal to

finalize the comprehensive convention against

terrorism during the course of this session of the

General Assembly. We believe that acts of terrorism

carried out with weapons of mass destruction can have

unprecedented consequences for humankind.

Arms control is a key element of my country’s

security policy. In that regard, I should like to point out

our ongoing support for the further strengthening of

crucial international disarmament and non-proliferation

instruments. Albania is therefore fully committed to

cooperate on disarmament and non-proliferation issues

both in its own region and beyond. To that end, we

have put in place robust measures at the national level

to prevent the illicit trafficking in arms on our territory.

In addition, with regard to implementing commitments

on the control of small arms and light weapons, we

have amended our national legislation in order to bring

it closer to that of the European Union in areas such as

licensing, strengthening import and export regimes and

enforcement. Part of the Government’s programme in

this area has included the destruction of some 200,000

small arms and light weapons that had been in the

hands of civilians. Moreover, in cooperation with

foreign donors, the Government has drafted a

programme to destroy all chemical weapons materials

on our territory, thereby contributing to the

strengthening of security in the region and beyond.

Albania is continuing to demonstrate the growing

maturity of its democracy. The year 2005 is an election

year in Albania. Last July’s parliamentary elections

and orderly transfer of power were tangible

developments that had a positive impact on the

country’s future political, economic and social

development.

Albania believes that good governance is a key

element in improving the lives of all its citizens. Good

governance is also an essential precondition to

guaranteeing sustainable economic growth and

eradicating poverty. In that regard, we will work

tirelessly to strengthen the rule of law, promote

transparency in the decision-making process and

increase the Government’s sense of responsibility to

serve all citizens.

With regard to the economy, the new Albanian

Government’s priorities in the coming years will be to

fight corruption and the factors that encourage it,

promote free competition and relentlessly combat

monopolies.

A set of measures is being contemplated to

improve the national education system. Among those

measures is the opening of universities to all who want

to pursue higher education.

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In addition, for the first time in its history, a

woman heads Albania’s National Assembly. This is a

strong indication of Albania’s serious commitment to

gender equality.

The new Government is committed to improving

the country’s macroeconomic indicators. We are

determined to develop social policies that guarantee

gradual improvements in people’s living standards,

particularly for the most vulnerable. In order to achieve

its programme’s goals, the Government will support

the expansion and modernization of the financial

system, while keeping inflation under control, in an

effort to improve the legal framework necessary for

economic development.

With regard to our close cooperation with the

World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, we

are determined to promote sound macroeconomic and

investment policies that will guide the country towards

sustainable development, encourage the private sector

and promote employment.

I would also like to assure the Assembly that our

Government is fully committed to implementing the

Millennium Development Goals. We share the belief

that coordinating and harmonizing national and local

development strategies, with wide-scale civil society

participation, private sector initiative, heightened

public awareness and the holding of public debates to

identify the most effective ways and means to achieve

the Millennium Development Goals will lead to the

desired results, including in Albania.

The Albanian Government is resolved to combat

organized crime, transnational crime, illegal trafficking

and terrorism relentlessly by strengthening national

legislation and law enforcement structures and by

establishing relevant implementation mechanisms and

fully committing itself to regional cooperation on a

wider scale. That effort will serve to bring us closer to

our friendly neighbours as well as to all European

countries. This is a common struggle.

It should be recalled that my country has had

excellent experience in coexistence among different

religious communities. We are convinced that

strengthening dialogue among cultures, civilizations

and religions is an important element in strengthening

peaceful coexistence and good-neighbourly relations. It

also holds great potential for strengthening cooperation

among countries. In that connection, an international

forum was held in Tirana in December 2004 under the

auspices of the President of Albania and the Director-

General of UNESCO. In addition to discussing

important issues related to such a dialogue, the

gathering also paved the way for further cooperation in

that regard.

My country has decisively committed itself to the

path to Euro-Atlantic integration, with the clear

purpose of joining the European Union and NATO. We

view Euro-Atlantic integration as our country’s entry

into the zone of peace, stability and prosperity

established in Western Europe over the course of many

years. Joining that family will signal our society’s

embrace of such values as economic and political

freedom, fundamental human rights and freedoms, the

primacy of law, social prosperity and solidarity. It will

also reflect that fact that we are making our

contribution to that set of values.

Albania is preparing for the closure of

negotiations of the Stabilization and Association

Agreement with the European Union that will lead to

its signature. We are convinced that our country has the

ability to meet all the requirements of this very

rigorous process. Albanian society is firmly committed

to carry out reform, which will contribute to our

integration into the European Union. We believe that

the reform process is, first and foremost, in the interest

of the country and of strengthening the economy and

improving Albania’s image in the world.

We view NATO as a guarantor of security in our

region. By increasing cooperation with NATO we are

aiming at membership soon. Albania’s participation in

NATO peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and

Herzegovina and Afghanistan constitutes a real

contribution to both regional and international peace

and security.

Good-neighbourly relations and cooperation with

the countries of our region continue to be top priorities

of our foreign policy. Our vision for a region of

stability and security, through fruitful bilateral and

multilateral cooperation, is sincere and is already quite

clear. Our philosophy regarding the development of

such relations is based on three basic principles:

transparency, tolerance and dialogue. In that context,

we have intensified high-level political dialogue with

all the countries of the region. We have expanded the

framework for legal and institutional cooperation at the

bilateral and multilateral levels in many areas of

common interest. That dialogue is becoming more

36

constant and sensible due to a spirit of mutual

understanding and confidence.

Through their growing participation in

peacekeeping missions in areas of conflict throughout

the world, several countries of the region have been

transformed from consumers to worthy contributors to

the maintenance of international peace and security.

With regard to positive developments and

progress in the region, Albania has consistently played

a positive, moderating and constructive role vis-à-vis

Albania’s neighbouring countries by promoting multi-

ethnic coexistence in an atmosphere of harmony and

lasting peace. Albanian foreign policy holds that

determining the status of Kosovo is an important issue.

There is no more time to lose. The status quo will not

guarantee lasting peace in the region. We believe that

the answer to Kosovo’s status should take into account

the will of its people as democratically expressed and

not disregard the rights of minorities. In that regard,

conditional independence could allow the international

community to monitor the development of Kosovo’s

institutions and society for a given period and, above

all, would provide a guarantee for Serbs and other

minorities to live in their own homes in that country.

We all believe that Kosovo’s future, as for all the

countries in the region, lies in European and Euro-

Atlantic integration.

We Albanians are confident that, in his

forthcoming report, Mr. Kai Aide, Special Envoy of the

Secretary-General for Kosovo, will provide an

objective assessment of the standards achieved thus far

in Kosovo in connection with the establishment of the

institutions for the rule of law and a democratic

environment that will open the way for negotiations on

Kosovo’s final status. The Contact Group on Kosovo

has an important role to play in that process.

In short, there have been some preliminary

positive results. But there is much work to be done by

us all to encourage and sustain the dialogue between

Pristina and Belgrade. There are many issues to

discuss. With good will and the determination to

achieve peace, we have much cause to optimistic.