Albania, 2006

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.