Albania, 2010

It is a

special honour for me to address the sixty-fifth session

of the General Assembly. I would like to congratulate

the President on his election to this important position.

His experience and continuing commitment strengthen

my conviction that he will take the achievements of his

predecessor even further. Albania will fully support

him as he fulfils his mandate. I take this opportunity to

express our special appreciation to the Secretary-

General for his continuing efforts to revitalize the

global role of the United Nations, as well as to reform

the Organization.

Albania is of the view that the role of the United

Nations remains powerful, coherent and irreplaceable

as the centre of effective global action. It must

continue to be encouraged and supported in its efforts

to overcome the challenges of achieving open

international cooperation, sustainable peace and

security, ongoing development and greater respect for

human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We live in a global world, interconnected and

interdependent, where States and nations must assist

and support each other in the search for a

comprehensive answer to the common problems and

new challenges that we face. Multilateralism remains a

priority for the entire international community. In this

context, a reformed United Nations — revitalized,

dynamic, powerful and effective — is crucial to the

complicated process of global governance. In this path

of cooperation around the world, the role of the United

Nations is irreplaceable, especially in regard to how we

make use of our human and material resources.

Rapidly evolving issues throughout the world,

each with positive and negative consequences that

must inevitably influence the challenges the future will

bring, must be given special priority and approached

with special care. The United Nations challenging

agenda must focus on strengthening peace and security,

fighting terrorism, and the issues of stable

development, climate change, poverty reduction, the

non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

natural disasters, human rights, migration, and others.

Albania remains committed to contributing to this

agenda.

The lead role of the Organization and its agencies

in administering its budgetary and human resources

should be responsive to the requests of Member States.

The establishment of the United Nations Entity for

Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women is

the most recent example of tangible success in United

Nations reform. Strengthening the role of women in

society will not only enhance political life but also help

their emancipation and harmonious development.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are

a priority in our work. Following the adoption of the

Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) a decade ago,

Albania has advanced towards meeting the MDGs in

all areas and with respect to all indicators. It has also

made great efforts to incorporate the MDGs into its

national development strategy.

We are fully committed to reaching the goals set

forth in the acquis communautaire of the European

Union (EU), which requires increasing investment in

social issues, establishing local and central governance

systems, and enhancing development capacity in order

to guarantee the ongoing improvement of the well-

being of the Albanian people. However, as a full-

fledged member of NATO and in the light of its

internal democratic stability, Albania is now seeking

greater standing in the world as a way to bolster its

development in the long term.

Delivering as one is a crucial factor in the reform

designed to assist in development around the world.

United Nations efforts to establish system-wide

coherence offer a real possibility to make the United

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Nations more effective. As a pilot country, Albania is a

success story, having committed itself fully from the

onset. The One United Nations concept in Albania is

being developed in complete harmony with national

sovereignty and national ownership of development,

while responding to the specific needs of the country.

The responsibility of being a pilot country further

encourages us to make this initiative a success. It is

also an opportunity for us to contribute to the overall

reform of the United Nations.

Albania has signed a memorandum of

understanding with the United Nations Department of

Peacekeeping Operations. As a NATO member,

Albania is a force for peace and stability in the region.

Not only does Albania follow a policy of good-

neighbourly relations and strive for the preservation

and strengthening of stability in its own region, it also

has shown its interest in and commitment to stability

and peace in other parts of the world by contributing

military and civilian personnel to the peacekeeping

missions of various international security organizations

and of the United Nations, including the United

Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and

Chad and missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are

thus willing to contribute peacekeeping troops

anywhere in the world under the auspices of the United

Nations and regional security organizations like NATO.

Terrorism remains a major threat to peace,

international security and world order. The fight

against terrorism remains a priority that requires great

determination resolve. This global threat may be

prevented and addressed through collective action,

strong responses and the mobilization of all States

Members of the United Nations. We must show our

nations that, as a part of our responsibility, we shall

stand resolute and united against terrorism. Together,

we must define a collective platform and strategy for

victory in the war against terror by strengthening the

international system and order.

We praise and appreciate the work of the Security

Council and its committees for their engagement with

and active support for Member States through their

effective implementation of the Council’s counter-

terrorism resolutions, in particular resolutions 1269

(1999), 1373 (2001), 1540 (2004) and 1624 (2005).

Albania remains fully committed to cooperating with

the Security Council in this regard.

Albania appreciates the Secretary-General’s

contributions to addressing the issue of the Middle

East, particularly in the discussions aimed at achieving

a sustainable solution acceptable to all parties. All

peoples share the desire to live in peace, and

Governments have an obligation to guarantee it. We

support the relaunched dialogue process and hope that,

with the commitment of the international community,

the Palestinians and Israelis will take the steps

necessary to achieving stable peace in that important

region.

Albania believes that the Alliance of Civilizations

is a political means for the United Nations to promote

peace and harmony among civilizations and to build an

inclusive society through education, understanding and

mutual knowledge. As a member of the Group of

Friends, we shall take active part because we believe in

dialogue and contacts among different cultures, in the

need to know and respect each other, and in the

necessity of defending the unique as part of the

richness of the whole. Our approved national strategy

for intercultural dialogue and the holding of the

Inter-Religious Forum in Tirana in January have served

to enrich our experience. However, our participation in

the Third Global Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations

led us to believe that a better job of fighting

stereotypes and prejudice is still needed, as are greater

efforts to make modern multicultural societies more

cohesive.

Albania’s integration into and membership of the

European Union is a key priority of our foreign policy,

where there has rarely been a broader political and

social consensus. The important steps taken by Albania

towards EU membership and the phases of cooperation

under the framework of the integration process have

shown a great deal of potential.

The end of this year promises to be decisive as

we approach two decisions of great importance: the

completion of the visa liberalization process with the

EU and the achievement of candidate status for EU

membership. Albanians will finally be able to enjoy the

real freedom for which they fought and sacrificed

longer and more deeply than any other European

nation. The near-unanimous decision of the European

Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs to remove

the requirement that Albanians obtain visas to enter the

EU not only gives us great joy, but also confers greater

responsibility on us to fulfil our commitments as we

prepare for EU membership.

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We guarantee that the seriousness with which we

completed the EU questionnaire and our responsible

approach to our relations with all European Union

institutions and member countries will remain the

hallmarks of our efforts to earn the status of candidate

country at the earliest possible date.

Albania’s membership in NATO and its

integration into the European Union are important

regional processes inseparable from the full integration

of the region. We believe that every Western Balkan

country is entitled to play a role in contributing to and

assuming responsibility for the integration and

emancipation of the region. I am happy to acknowledge

that the high level of regional cooperation and political

awareness show that the only way forward is through

Euro-Atlantic integration.

These are hopeful and promising times, now that

the bitter past of that part of Europe has been

consigned to history. Albania and Albanians will

continue to contribute to stability, security, long-term

peace and economic growth by encouraging integration

policies related not just to security and economic

development, but also to coexistence among countries,

peoples and nations, cultures, traditions and history.

A few days ago, a rare occurrence took place in

this very Hall with the adoption by consensus of

resolution 64/298 on the international legitimacy of the

declaration of Kosovo’s independence. That was a very

important event for Kosovo, Serbia, the Western

Balkans, a united Europe and the United Nations. I

would like to express my gratitude for the commitment

and engagement of all international actors, especially

the European Union, which imbued the resolution with

the contemporary philosophy and openness of Europe.

The European Union showed its cohesiveness and

proved that the integration policies of our region are

unstoppable and full of hope, and that the only way to

unite with Europe is through dialogue and cooperation

among neighbouring countries.

Now that the matter of the status of Kosovo and

its borders has been settled definitively, it is time to

begin a dialogue on practical issues. We hope that the

message enshrined in the resolution will immediately

be put into practice by the two independent countries.

We support the immediate launch of dialogue between

Kosovo and Serbia. We support sincere and

constructive dialogue to resolve practical issues of

interest to the daily concerns of their citizens, to help

them and to facilitate and even calm the situation of the

respective Albanian and Serbian minorities. It is time

to resolve the problems and issues concerning

representation, language and education, among others,

in the spirit and vision of a common European future.

Albania considers the consensus adoption of

resolution 64/298 to be an important step not only in

respect of the advisory opinion of the International

Court of Justice and the authority of the United

Nations, but also for the consolidation of the State of

Kosovo and its democratic and European institutions,

its independence and integrity, and its future as a

Member of the United Nations.

Albania appreciates the work of the Security

Council in its engagement towards the implementation

of the United Nations Charter and international law,

which are essential to peaceful coexistence and

cooperation among Member States in addressing

common challenges and contributing to international

peace and security.

The advisory opinion of the International Court

of Justice legally confirmed that the independence of

Kosovo remains a sui generis case that does not set a

precedent for situations in other countries. Now is the

time to prove with concrete facts that we respect the

United Nations and the values that have united us here

today. Today is the day to testify that we support its

authority and its independent institutions. Today is a

golden opportunity to accept the truth and to declare it

loudly.

Today, we have a responsibility towards a country

and a people that rightly wish to be among us and have

given ample evidence that they truly deserve it. I take

this opportunity to appeal to my colleagues, whose

countries have not yet recognized the independence of

Kosovo, to recognize it now, by assuring them that this

is the only way to contribute to long-term stability and

peace, not just in the region but also globally.

In conclusion, I would like to confirm once again

that Albania is determined to continue to support the

United Nations agenda and the stronger functioning of

the Organization at all levels.