Albania, 2007

Please allow me, Sir, to

congratulate you on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-second session and to

wish you great success in that very important job. I

would also like to thank the outgoing President,

Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her valuable

contribution to the General Assembly. I also wish to

congratulate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his

leadership, his great efforts in support of peace and

cooperation in the world and his contribution to

strengthening the United Nations and its institutions.

As a representative of a country that suffered one

of the most totalitarian of post-Second World War

dictatorships, it is my deep conviction that defending

and promoting freedom and its values and supporting

oppressed peoples in order that they may free

themselves from tyrannical regimes that continue to

produce human suffering, poverty, violence and

terrorism should be the main priority of the

Organization. In that context, I would like to say that

Central Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans and the

entire world are now freer and safer without the likes

of Mullah Omar, Saddam Hussein and Slobodan

Milosevic. I would like to take this opportunity to

welcome the message of hope that President George W.

Bush and other leaders have sent from this rostrum to

all the peoples of the world still living under tyrannical

regimes.

Albania is a small country, but one with a clear

vocation and determination to strengthen freedom and

democracy for its citizens. Albania is also deeply

committed to making its modest contribution to peace

and security in the world. We have established close

cooperation with friendly countries and international

organizations in the fight against terrorism. In that

regard, our peacekeeping units have served or are

serving in Bosnia, Georgia, Afghanistan and Iraq. I am

delighted to inform the Assembly that, in that same

spirit, my Government has decided to contribute

another platoon to United Nations peacekeeping

operations.

Albania has also been a staunch supporter of

international efforts to limit the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction and the unlawful use of

small arms and light weapons, which pose a serious

threat to peace, security and stability. In that context,

among other measures, we committed ourselves to the

full destruction of our stockpile of chemical weapons.

In July 2007, Albania became the first country in the

world free of chemical materials and armaments of any

kind. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the

Governments of the United States, Germany, Italy,

Greece and Switzerland, which provided valuable

financial and technical assistance to achieve that

important objective.

We are successfully implementing a number of

very important programmes in cooperation with the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),

UNICEF and many other United Nations agencies.

Albania became part of the effort to reform the United

Nations by voluntarily joining the One United Nations

programme as a pilot country. We are currently

working with United Nations agencies in order to test

the One United Nations concept and to develop new

approaches and models for partnership in the areas of

development, humanitarian assistance and the

environment. The first results of the project are truly

very encouraging. We are fully committed to making

every effort in order to ensure that the initiative can

become a success story.

European integration and membership in NATO

are two main objectives for Albania. We are committed

to undertake any reform and take any step to achieve

those goals. A year ago, we signed a Stabilization and

Association Agreement with the European Union (EU).

We are working seriously in every way to fulfil its

standards and obligations. At the same time, we have

undertaken thorough reforms of our armed forces, with

the assistance of many NATO member countries. We

are also working to strengthen the rule of law and

democracy in our country. We are hopeful that by the

time of the next NATO summit, in Bucharest, we will

be in a position to deserve an invitation to join the

alliance.

It was not long ago that the Balkans was the stage

for human tragedies, brutal wars and ethnic cleansing

based on the concept of a “greater country” and fuelled

by the extreme nationalism and racism of a nation that

was consumed by the idea of its own hegemony over

others. But in a few years, the Balkan countries have

managed to transit from the age of dictatorships, hatred

and conflicts into an age of peace, cooperation,

friendship and integration.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all

the Governments and taxpayers of the countries

members of NATO, the EU and the United Nations, as

well as the other organizations whose support and

assistance was so important in bringing about that

historic change. However, I believe that a final solution

to the issue of Kosova’s status that fully respects the

expressed will of its citizens for independence is a

fundamental precondition for durable peace and

stability, not only in Kosova but in the entire region as

well. Albania fully supported President Ahtisaari’s

project and the efforts of the Troika for the solution for

the final status.

Due to the lack of realism and the ghost of a

greater Serbia, Belgrade turned down President

Ahtisaari’s project, which sets forth and guarantees the

highest, by far, European standards for the Serb

minorities in Kosova, standards that, in truth, are much

more advanced than those enjoyed by the Albanians

living in southern Serbia.

Rejection of the Ahtisaari package is unhelpful

and proves that what matters first for Belgrade is not

the freedom and rights of Serbs in Kosova, but rather

the idea of a greater Serbia. Such a stance by Belgrade

has been encouraged by the Russian position in the

Security Council with regard to Ahtisaari’s project, a

position that, despite its motivation, does not

contribute to peace and stability in the region.

Claims that Kosova’s independence sets an

international precedent or lays conditions for the

creation of a greater Albania, as well as the fear of two

Albanian states in the Balkans, are unfounded. Those

who are interested in the truth and in reality can easily

realize that Kosova is a unique case, from both the

historical and current perspectives.

For more than five centuries, from the end of the

thirteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth,

Kosova was a part of the Ottoman Empire, inhabited

mainly by native Albanians whose roots and shelter

had been there since the very beginning. Only at the

start of the last century, in one of the greatest historic

injustices, Kosova was separated from the Albanian

territory and given in tribute to Serbia — for the sole

reason that it was part of an empire that lost the war.

Kosova is also a unique case in her sufferings.

During the past century, the implementation of the

Cubrilovic doctrine of extreme racism and

extermination against Albanians turned them into third-

class citizens and turned Kosova into an arena of ethnic

cleansing and real apartheid.

It is also a unique case because the last Serbian

genocide against Albanians, in 1999, which caused

thousands of atrocities among innocent populations,

multiple massive graves and the destruction and

burning of more than 130 thousand homes, schools and

hospitals, obliged the North Atlantic alliance to

undertake its greatest offensive to protect human rights

and freedom there.

Kosova is also a unique case from a legal

standpoint, because during Josip Broz Tito’s regime it

was a constitutional entity of the Yugoslav federation,

enjoying its veto rights in the federal Government.

During this time, Kosova chaired the Yugoslav

federation for several terms, based on the leadership

rotation principle within Yugoslavia.

The claim that the independence of Kosova could

lead to the creation of a greater Albania cannot be

farther from the truth. In reality, Kosova’s

independence will only end the fluidity of Albanians in

the Balkans, along with the idea of the creation of a

single Albanian State in the territories where they are a

dominant majority. The simple truth is that Kosova

Albanians have decided in their great project for the

future to join Brussels and not to join Tirana.

On the other hand, I would like to guarantee that

Albania remains determined to fully respect the

international borders of its neighbours, including those

of Kosova. Albania is closely collaborating and will

continue to cooperate bilaterally with all countries in

the region, including Serbia, in the process of regional,

European and Euro-Atlantic integration. I believe that

the concern about two independent Albanian States in

the Balkans is xenophobic. Two democratic States with

an Albanian majority will be two more countries

friendly to their neighbours.

I would like to urge the political leadership of

Kosova to refrain from taking unilateral actions. They

should continue, as they have done so far, to cooperate

with the Contact Group and the international

community in seeking a solution for the final status of

Kosova, with full respect for its will and the dignity it

deserves.

I would also like to take this opportunity to

congratulate the political leadership of Kosova for

submitting a treaty of reconciliation, friendship and

cooperation with Serbia — a treaty inspired by the

highest European values and the best of European

heritage. I hope and wish that Serbia would take up this

important opportunity, because I believe that peace and

coexistence between Albanians and Serbs in the

Balkans will best benefit both of these nations.