Albania, 2000

Allow me to congratulate

you, Sir, on your election as President of the General

Assembly, and to express my strong conviction that,

under your guidance, the work of this session will be

conducted successfully. I would also like to take this

opportunity to express my great appreciation for the

work carried out by your predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben

Gurirab, and for his competent guidance of the

previous session.

At the start of the new millennium, Albania, as a

sovereign and peace-loving country, is committed to

making its modest contribution, in the activities of the

community of countries Members of the United

Nations, to greater peace, stability, security and

economic prosperity. It has tried to do so by creating

internal political and economic stability, as well as by

pursuing a foreign policy aimed at achieving

constructive cooperation with the countries of South-

Eastern Europe and beyond. Since last year's session,

Albania has been taking further steps towards

consolidating its democratic institutions and

constitutional order, strengthening and liberalizing its

economy and consolidating and ensuring respect for

human rights. Because of the efficient measures

undertaken by the Albanian Government, and thanks to

the help provided by our partners, Albania is

recovering from the consequences of last year's

conflict in Kosovo.

Albania has become an open and safe country for

foreign investment. The policies of the Albanian

Government to privatize strategic sectors and absorb

foreign capital are bearing fruit. The strengthening of

security and public order, as well as the fight against

organized crime, have reached satisfactory levels that

are appreciated not only within my country, but

elsewhere. The abrogation of the death penalty and the

establishment of the office of Ombudsman have further

raised the level of protection of and respect for human

rights in Albania.

Albania is currently on the eve of local elections,

which will be of fundamental importance for the future

development of the country not because of the

results so much as because of the way in which the

elections will be conducted. For this reason, the

Albanian Government, in close cooperation with

specialized international institutions, such as the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,

the Council of Europe, the United Nations

Development Programme and others, has made every

effort to ensure that these elections are fair, free and

democratic.

Albania has clearly expressed its intention to play

a primary and constructive role in the common

attempts to transform the Balkans into a developed and

stable region, clearly aiming at European integration.

The policy of good-neighbourliness is not simply a

requirement of geography but, above all, an eloquent

expression of goodwill and mutual interest in the

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protection of democratic institutions, fundamental

freedoms, stability and prosperity in the region.

Consequently, the Albanian Government has proceeded

towards the creation of stable relations of mutual

cooperation with Balkan countries, considering that to

be a primary strategy for future European integration.

Relations with these countries have been

institutionalized not only bilaterally, but also

multilaterally. Albania has placed at the core of these

relations common economic, political and security

interests, as well as respect for human freedoms and

rights, including those of national minorities living in

the territory of the Republic of Albania. It has tried to

make inter-Balkan relations follow the model of

existing relations among European Union member

countries, with the free movement of people, goods and

capital.

More than a year after the bloody conflict in

Kosovo that endangered peace and stability in the

region, the Albanian Government is of the opinion that

the situation in Kosovo has improved significantly

since the beginning of the implementation of Security

Council resolution 1244 (1999) the deployment of

the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the establishment of the

United Nations administration. Hundreds of thousands

of refugees have returned home, houses destroyed by

the war have been rebuilt, the reconstruction of the

economy and of the common administration

institutions has begun and the political situation and

order in the country have improved significantly.

The current situation in Kosovo contradicts the

sceptical and nihilistic opinions, expressed here and

there, against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) military intervention in Kosovo and against

the establishment of the United Nations administration

there. Our memories of what happened in Kosovo a

year ago will not fade, but will make us more

conscious of the catastrophic consequences that the

chauvinistic policy of a totalitarian regime can bring to

an innocent civilian population.

In order to make a contribution to the founding of

a democratic society in Kosovo in which human and

national rights are fully respected, we have established

very close relations with the United Nations Interim

Administration Mission in Kosovo, KFOR and their

representatives. Albanians, even more than other

people in the region, wish for and will welcome the

democratization of Serbia, because, historically, they

have suffered more than others from Serbian

nationalism. Often, however, wishes do not match up

with reality, and we have to be realistic.

Following very attentively the preparations for

local elections in Kosovo, the Albanian Government

expresses its conviction that the political forces in

Kosovo will conduct their pre-electoral campaign in

accordance with democratic principles and values,

without acts of political violence. We would also like

to express our sincere will for the full participation of

the Serb community and of the other minorities in

Kosovo in this electoral process because, as we have

previously stated, we support a multi-ethnic and

multicultural Kosovo.

I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to

the entire international community to apply stronger

pressure against the Milosević regime in order to force

him to release all 7,000 Albanian political prisoners

and hostages being kept in the Serb prisons, to help

bring the criminals who caused the massacres against

the Kosovar population before the United Nations

Tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, to

strengthen the international police presence and to

work on strengthening judicial bodies in order to detect

any kind of crime in Kosovo and combat it.

I would also like to reiterate that the realization

of United Nations goals for the fulfilment of the

promises to start the reconstruction of the Kosovar

economy is of special importance. It should be

included in regional cooperation projects, especially in

the framework of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern

Europe.

Although the Balkan political scenery has

changed, and the countries of the region are engaged in

a process of cooperation, there still exists a source of

tension and conflict in the region, a source that has

consequences for the countries of the region and

beyond. It is Milosević's regime. He was not satisfied

by the catastrophic 10-year-long conflicts that he

personally set off in the former Yugoslavia; now he is

destroying Serbia itself, as well as the remaining

Yugoslavia.

Next week, presidential and parliamentary

elections will be held in Serbia. The current situation

there indicates that very little chance exists for them to

be free and fair. The recent amendments to the

Yugoslav Constitution, the brutal violence against the

opposition and the student movement and the

9

censorship and closing down of independent media are

explicit facts proving that Milosević may transform

these elections into a tool for illegally maintaining

power.

Like all the rest of the international community,

the Albanian Government looks forward to genuine

democratic forces coming into power in Serbia, forces

that possess new visions for the future of their country

and of the whole region.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like

to thank Mr. Kouchner, the Special Representative of

the Secretary-General, for the positive developments in

Kosovo and for all that he and his staff are doing to

stabilize Kosovo and to establish democratic

institutions there.

As a neighbouring country, Albania closely

follows developments in Montenegro. It condemns

Milosević's attempts to destabilize that Republic and to

undermine the democratic and integrative processes

that are being undertaken by the legitimate

Montenegrin leadership. Following the good-

neighbourliness principle of its foreign policy, the

Albanian Government has recently developed

intensively its cooperation with Montenegro. Current

relations have reached the highest level ever known,

having been extended to areas of mutual interest, such

as political, economic and trade cooperation, the free

movement of people and so forth. It is our intention to

further extend and strengthen these relations in the

future.

The countries in our region are involved in an

already irreversible process: Euro-Atlantic integration.

Not only the Balkans, but also Western Europe, is now

aware of the danger stemming from a divided Europe,

of the danger stemming from a Balkan region that is

not integrated into the European Union. The regional

conflicts of the last decade are more than sufficient to

understand this tendency. Stability in the Balkans is not

only in the interest of its countries, but also in the

interest of the European Union itself. An economically

developed and democratically consolidated Balkans

cannot exist without a Europeanized Balkans. The

European integration of the Balkans and its

development consist of an inseparable unity. It is of no

importance whether a country tries to protect its

democratic institutions, laws, public order or respect

human rights; it can never attain the desired success if

it is not economically developed.

We are conscious that European integration is not

an easy process; on the contrary, it is a long and

difficult path. Before being integrated into the

European Union, all the countries of our region should

first be integrated among themselves, and existing

societies in the Balkans should demonstrate and reflect

the best features of European civilization. In order to

achieve this, we should first combat and overcome

extreme nationalistic concepts, mentalities and

policies, because Europeanization means

cooperation, tolerance and integration.

The end of the conflict in Kosovo marked a

turning point for the future of the Balkans. The

Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe was the best

response to the crisis in the region. Our countries, like

the European Union member countries, consider this

initiative an instrument and a bridge for the integration

of South-Eastern Europe into the European structures.

The Albanian Government regards the implementation

of the Stability Pact as one of its main priorities.

Albania is highly appreciated by its international

partners for the engagement and the responsibility it

has shown in drafting the feasibility studies for the

Stability Pact projects. We hope that the strong

political will expressed in Sarajevo last year at the end

of the Kosovo conflict will be vigorously followed by

the will to finalize financial support for the rapid

implementation of the Stability Pact projects.

Albania's achievements in its domestic and

foreign policy in the year 2000 have only one goal: its

further integration within Euro-Atlantic structures. The

Albanian people have a clear European orientation, and

that is why all Albanian Governments of the last 10

years have enjoyed their total support for their

European integration policy. The present Albanian

Government, representing and expressing the will of

the people, has continuously fulfilled all the required

conditions during the last year, aiming at reaching a

higher level of relations with the European Union. We

hope that in the near future the institutions of the

European Union will approve the status report that the

Albanian Government presented at Brussels several

months ago. This approval will pave the way for the

beginning of negotiations to reach Albania's

association and stability agreement with the European

Union. Albania's acceptance in the World Trade

Organization in July this year was also an encouraging

and very optimistic event in this respect.

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The Albanian Government has welcomed the

initiative of President Chirac to organize, on behalf of

the European Union, a regional summit in Zagreb in

November this year. It is another affirmation of

common efforts to further advance the democratization

and integration processes in the region and the

consolidation of security and stability there.

The new century has started. We should keep on

facing old problems, along with our new challenges.

Some of those may be local crises, organized crime,

traffic in human beings, terrorism, arms control and so

forth, all of which require practical and well-oriented

cooperation. Bitter experiences in various regions of

the world, such as the Balkans, Africa, South-East Asia

and so forth, made the role of such organizations as the

United Nations, the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe and others more evident. On the

other hand, the world has entered the era of

globalization. Despite its positive side, globalization is

unavoidably accompanied by effects that may bring

negative consequences, especially to small and poor

countries. In order to avoid these consequences, it is

necessary to compile and to implement global

strategies, and the United Nations can easily do that.

Only a week has passed since one of the most

distinguished events for the international community,

the Millennium Summit. It was a unique meeting of all

the leaders of the world, where they affirmed their

goodwill to cooperate in facing the challenges of the

new millennium and in strengthening the United

Nations. The Albanian Government hails the results of

the Summit and expresses its conviction that all United

Nations Member countries should unite all their forces

for the fulfilment of the commitments embodied in the

final Declaration of the Summit. Following is what the

Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, wrote in his report:

We must do more than talk about our

future, however. We must start to create it.

(A/54/2000, para. 17)

It is time to take concrete steps in this direction.