YouSaid · the spoken record

Sali Berisha

lines on the record: 56
first: 2007-09-24
most recent: 2011-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“My country is doing its best and is investing heavily in infrastructure to create new links, new roads and new lines of communication with all our neighbours. I believe that the time has come when Albanians and Serbs will try to start archiving the past and looking for a common future in the best interests of their nations. From this rostrum, President Abbas made his request to the General Assembly for Palestine’s membership of the United Nations as an independent State. While my Government fully supports the idea of an independent Palestine, I believe that unilateral action will not be helpful. That is why I call on our Palestinian friends to support the statement made yesterday by the Quartet, in which it drew a clear road map for action to address this fundamental question of our time.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Nevertheless, the Government of Albania has officially asked its delegation in the Council of Europe to vote to endorse the report for the sole purpose of opening the door to a thorough international investigation. My Government sent an invitation to EULEX, and we welcome the fact the EULEX accepted it. I assure everyone here that my country will fully cooperate fully with EULEX and its task force so that the truth about such inventions will be made known. When I read them for the first time in Carla Del Ponte’s memoir, they reminded me of Agatha Christie. I want the EULEX team to come and clarify everything about those fictions. Despite all this, our region has made extraordinary progress, and efforts to cooperate in building a common future in the European Union are prevailing every day.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Every person who reads that report sees that it raises many allegations that are not at all based on facts or the truth but rather motivated by sinister intention. The Dick Marty report — or rather let us call it the Dick Marty/Vukcevic report — does not produce even a single fact. I must clarify that in fact it synthesizes Carla Del Ponte’s memoir, which seem to have derived from the same unique source. In the thousands of pages of transcripts of the interrogation of Slobodan Miloševic and his accusations against Albanians, there is not a single word of accusation on his part about organ trafficking or mass graves in my country. The purpose of the report is to divert attention from the decision of the International Court of Justice in favour of the independence of Kosovo.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is very important to cleanse one’s country of those who have committed crimes against humanity, but it is also important not to hide or cover over the graves of their victims. Here yesterday, President Tadic characterized as true the accusations raised by Mr. Dick Marty regarding the alleged traffic in organs and mass killings committed by Albanians in the territory of Albania. Regarding that report, I would like to state here the stance of the Albanian Government. Dick Marty’s report — as acknowledged by the Chief Prosecutor of Serbia, Vladimir Vukcevic, who has stated that his own report is fully included in Marty’s report — is in fact a cut-and-paste of the Vukcevic’s report.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Belgrade’s efforts to keep parallel structures of authority in place in those three communes demonstrate that it still believes in reshaping borders in our region based on the failed and long-outdated idea of ethnically clean countries and the concept of Greater Serbia. The Republic of Serbia, in accordance with international law, has arrested the butcher of the Balkans and, albeit too late, his lieutenants as well, and has received the due appreciation of the international community for doing so. However, I invite Serbia to cooperate in the search for and return of the remains of 1,500 men, women, children and elderly who were abducted from their homes and massacred in the territory of Serbia only because they were Albanians.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Those efforts, however, have met strong resistance from criminal groups and organized gangs that, with weapons and other means, are doing all in their power to block the rule of law. We have supported and will continue to support the Government of Kosovo, EULEX and KFOR in their efforts to strengthen law and order in all the territory of the republic of Kosovo so that peace and stability will prevail. I also call on Serbia to do its best to remove the obstacles to the flow of goods across its border with Kosovo, and to respect the agreement signed this month in Brussels, which forbids the embargo and 11-51360 32 provides for freedom of export and import for both countries. We believe that respect for the actual borders in the Balkans is a fundamental condition for lasting peace and stability.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I would like to reassure the representatives of the Member States that the only threat Serbs in Kosovo face is that of being exploited to serve the purposes of a bitter past that must not ever return. Meanwhile, inter-ethnic relations in all areas where Serbs and Albanians live together in the same communities are very good. However, the parallel structures funded by Belgrade in the three Serbian homogeneous communes in northern Mitrovica, where no other ethnic groups reside, have turned them into a safe haven for organized crime and smuggling and trafficking of all sorts. The Government of the republic of Kosovo is determined to implement the rule of law in those communes and engage in effective border and customs control, in full compliance with the agreement reached in Brussels and the Ahtisaari document.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In accordance with President Ahtisaari’s package, and in close cooperation with the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), the International Security Force in Kosovo (KFOR) and other international institutions present in the country, the republic of Kosovo has put in place and implemented the highest standards in the region and beyond as regards the freedoms and rights of minorities. The most worrying problems for the Serbs in Kosovo today are the tensions created and orchestrated for nationalistic purposes. Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo is today more secure than ever. It is a precious cultural heritage not only for the Serbs in Kosovo but also for Albanians and all other citizens of Kosovo, as well as for Serbia, the entire region and the whole of Europe.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The Republic of Kosovo has been recognized by more than 80 States, and I take this opportunity to call upon the rest of the States Members of the United Nations to recognize the independent republic of Kosovo, which has become, in fact, an important factor for peace, stability and cooperation in our region. I also call upon Serbia, which went through the General Assembly to ask the opinion of the International Court of Justice, to adapt its position in line with the decision of the Court, thus demonstrating that it accepts and respects international law in its entirety and not only those parts that serve its cause.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In order to strengthen the role of civil society, my Government has for the past two years had a specific budgetary provision in that respect that is entirely administered by an independent board of civil society. Albania has excellent relations with its immediate neighbours and, in general, with the countries of the region. We would like to develop and consolidate further relations with the Republic of Serbia as well. I am very pleased to inform the Assembly that the Government of Kosovo possesses an equally strong will in the area of good-neighbourly relations and has shown assiduous commitment and seriousness in the process of negotiations in Brussels. The International Court of Justice decided in July last year in The Hague that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was in full compliance with international law.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Based on this belief, Albania two years ago became the first country in the world with a 100 per cent electronic procurement system certified by the United Nations. That system has led to a sixfold increase in participating public bids, reducing procurement costs by 27 per cent. Today Albania is a country featuring e-tax, e-customs, e-university admissions, and e-business registration and e-civil status registry. The Government intends to offer all those services and others in a one-stop-shop context in the very near future. E-government and transparency strengthen democracy, and our law also guarantees free access for our citizens to all acts, decisions and public expenditures of the Government.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“A total of 2.1 million Albanians have availed themselves of this opportunity and have surfed the Internet, many of them for the first time in their lives. This has helped increase the percentage of the population in Albania using the Internet from a mere 31 11-51360 4.8 per cent in early 2006 to 60 per cent today — roughly two thirds of the population. Free Internet service will continue to be available in all post offices and in some additional offices to be opened for that purpose. Moreover, the Government is fully committed to making super-broadband Internet available over the next two years and to guaranteeing one-stop-shopping services to citizens throughout the country. We believe that the digital age is above all the age of transparency.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I am pleased to inform the Assembly that this project is moving rapidly ahead and that it has given rise to a real and unprecedented tree- planting passion on the part of my fellow citizens. Albania will welcome any and all help from the United Nations and its Member States to successfully complete this project. Albania fully supports the Open Government Partnership initiated by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff; that is why we have joined the initiative. Our efforts towards an open Government have as a primary objective the project entitled “Albania in the digital age”. In a short time, we have expanded access to the Internet to all our schools and have started offering free Internet service to every citizen in all post offices throughout the country.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Such funds could be used to cover the cost of the loan interest incurred in realizing renewable energy projects. I am sure that they will increase manifold the production of renewable energy in the very near future. To combat climate change and improve environmental conditions, forestation is also very important. The United Nations Billion Tree Campaign has been met with a successful response by many countries and deserves credit as a first important step. However, our potential is much greater. The Government of Albania has started an ambitious programme aimed at taking advantage of our country’s potential in terms of fruit trees. We intend to plant, in the next eight years, some 50 million olive trees and around 200 million nut trees of different varieties. The project, which started two years ago, is subsidized by public funds.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Companies from all over Europe and the rest of the world are already engaged in that process. Additionally, major natural wind platforms exist throughout the country, and the Government has given and is giving licenses for the production of thousands of megawatts of electricity by wind parks. Albania is also one of the sunniest places in Europe, and the Government is determined to exploit solar as well as geothermal energy. I believe that in addition to the major efforts necessary to achieve an international legal framework to prevent global warming and lower greenhouse-gas emissions, we must speedily reach an agreement stipulating that a percentage of the aid that generous donors are offering to support this cause be used for the purpose of supporting private-sector companies that are focused on renewable energy projects.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I am convinced that it is a righteous and a sure path of hope by which the dream of a fully developed Albania will come true. To achieve that dream, the Government of Albania is committed to sustainable development. Developing countries and emerging markets such as that of Albania face countless difficulties, but they also have the advantage of learning from the mistakes of developed countries and being able to avoid them. With that in mind, we are determined to turn Albania into a small superpower of renewable energy in the region. With its rich water resources, Albania resembles a small Norway on the Balkan peninsula. My Government has already signed with the private sector a concessional contract for the construction of 220 of the 450 hydropower stations that are to be built.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Fourthly, we have made it easier to open a business or expand an existing one by putting in place an efficient digital one-stop-shopping system for business registrations, licences and permits, and by drastically reducing bureaucratic procedures. Yet the debt and the euro crisis are hanging like the sword of Damocles over our national currency, the lek, and our economy. I take this opportunity to call upon the countries of the eurozone to take into consideration the effects of the crisis on our economy and others that are closely linked to the euro. The greatest desire and fondest dream of all Albanians is to see Albania become a developed country. I know that the road ahead of us is not smooth; it may be bumpy at times, but it is also the one that will take us higher and higher.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The increase in fiscal freedoms and the successful fight against corruption allowed our country to double its budgetary revenue from customs and taxes in four years’ time. 11-51360 30 Thirdly, we invested heavily in infrastructure to stimulate growth. My Government has spent 8 per cent to 10 per cent of our GDP on road infrastructure alone, three years in a row. A total of 8,000 km of new roads have been constructed, more than in the entire history of the country. Within the next two years, Albania will have a new and modern road infrastructure that will allow our citizens as well as foreign visitors to reach our capital, Tirana, from any part of the country in 60 per cent less time than previously required.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Last year, that freedom suffered a major setback worldwide, whereas in my country it increased by 16 per cent. The Albanian economy is not detached from the global economy. In fact, the opposite is true: being a small economy, it is linked to and affected by it. That is why I believe that four main factors determine its performance. The first factor is a small government and public sector. Albania’s public administration and public sector are at least 50 per cent smaller than those of any other similarly sized country in the region and beyond. Furthermore, I am pleased to state that my Government ranks among the top 10 Governments with the lowest level of interference in the economy. Secondly, Albania is a country of flat-rate taxes. At 10 per cent, its fiscal burden is the lowest in Europe.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Today, Albanians travel freely throughout Europe, while the number of foreign citizens who have visited Albania for tourism and other purposes has increased, from 300,000 in 2004 to 3.5 million last year. Recently, during this period of major European and global financial crises, Albania’s economy remained one of the few in the world that did not experience a recession. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that global foreign direct investment decreased by 37 per cent from 2007 to 2010, while the same source confirms that in Albania it grew by 316 per cent from 2006 to 2010. Over the past few years, Albanian exports have grown by 300 per cent. Unemployment has decreased, and so has poverty, by a margin of some 30 per cent. Our economic model is based entirely on economic freedom.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Formerly a totally hyper-collectivized country, today it has the smallest public sector in Europe, with more than 84 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) coming from the private sector. Twenty years ago, human rights and freedoms were forbidden under the country’s Constitution. Today, Albania is a country with a functional democracy, freedom of speech and free elections and in which there is full respect for minority rights and religious tolerance par excellence. Albania was the most isolated country in the world. Now, it is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty alliance and makes its contribution to peace and stability in the region and beyond, while remaining firmly focused on its path towards European Union integration.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“With their sacrifices, however, those who fought and fell in the name of freedom have delivered a sacred message to the very hearts and minds of all oppressed people on our planet: Be not afraid! On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the communist dictatorship, despite the unquestionable difficulties inherent in building a democracy based on market values, Albania has continuously affirmed that for the individual, our society and our nation as a whole freedom is the greatest of all assets and riches. Twenty years ago, Albania was one of the three poorest countries in the world, plagued by extreme poverty and chronic starvation. Today, Albania belongs to the group of countries with middle to upper income levels.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“More than 125 million oppressed people stood up with courage, determination and sacrifice and overthrew tyrannical regimes in five countries in Africa and opened the gates of freedom for their nations. As a representative of a country that only 20 years ago brought down the Hoxhaist dictatorship — the worst that Albania and Europe had ever known — I would like to cordially welcome and salute the representatives of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, South Sudan and Ivory Coast who are present at this Assembly session. Today, we pay tribute to the thousands of citizens of those countries who with great courage and legendary bravery lost their lives in order to liberate their countries from ruthless tyrannies and who made their countries, the African continent and the entire world more free and more just than ever.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“First, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the President of the General Assembly on his election. I wish him every success in leading the work of the Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. I would like to express my gratitude to his predecessor for his invaluable contribution. May I also take this opportunity to extend special thanks to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his excellent organization of this session and for his wise and determined leadership at the helm of the 29 11-51360 United Nations over the past few years. I wish him the utmost success over the four years ahead. Our world today is experiencing major and complex crises that threaten the peace and stability of several regions and our planet as a whole. However, this year’s spring was a great and historic one for Africa and the entire world.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We believe that in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, we need a Security Council that is efficient, transparent and legitimate in its decision-making process and in which regions and individual Member States are adequately represented.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“No one can ignore the track record of the United Nations activities in many fields. Whenever there is a crisis, poverty, famine, disease or disaster, the United Nations is there to provide relief and support. However, it has long been evident that the world, countries and the complexity of international relations develop much faster than the United Nations is able to adjust and adapt itself to the new realities. That is why Albania strongly supports the continuation of the reform process of this Organization and the further improvement of the United Nations system. A more efficient decision-making mechanism is pivotal in that respect. We support the efforts to reform the Security Council.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Today, Albania participates in peacekeeping missions in several international operations in the framework of the United Nations and other regional security organizations, such as in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Chad and other countries. Only about two months ago, Albania doubled its number of troops in the International Security Assistance Force mission. My country acknowledges and supports every effort for global peace and security, and will continue to support all efforts of the United Nations, NATO and other actors that promote peace, stability and security in the world and that keep in check those two countries that threaten it — Iran and North Korea — with their very dangerous nuclear programmes. 09-52592 4 All States Members of the United Nations share the responsibility for the efficient functioning of this Organization.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I hope and firmly believe that the rest of the countries that voted for that historic resolution will reaffirm the will that they expressed 14 years ago — this time through their recognition of Europe’s newest State, the Republic of Kosovo. With its foreign policy of peace and good relations with all countries, its modest but important contribution to international missions of peace and human rights protection through its policy of good neighbourliness, and a moderate and constructive role in the region, Albania has become a producer of and a direct contributor to stability and security in the region and at the global level.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“That is why I take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all Governments and States Members of the United Nations that are considering a review and assessment of the existing reality in South-East Europe and the possibility of recognizing the independence of Kosovo. In my judgment, that would be a great contribution to peace, stability, security and cooperation in our region. Fourteen years ago, after condemning the coercive oppression, violence and barbarism of the Milosevic regime against Albanians in Kosovo, 137 States Members of the United Nations voted in resolution 49/204 of 23 December 1994 to recognize and respect the will of the inhabitants of Kosovo. Today, that will has become the reality of an independent Kosovo and has been recognized by 63 countries that took that historic vote.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Meanwhile, 63 States Members of the United Nations have recognized independent Kosovo, and the Republic of Kosovo has become a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Nevertheless, Kosovo has not yet assumed the place that it deserves in the family of sovereign countries of this prestigious Organization. On this occasion, I would like to point out that all the countries that recognize the Republic of Kosovo and the international institutions that have accepted it in their forums as an independent member State have done so because, above all else, they are convinced that the independence of Kosovo and its international recognition make a major contribution to peace and stability in South-East Europe.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The opposite is happening — many Serbian families are coming back to Kosovo to build their future in their country. My Government is determined to help and assist the Government of Kosovo in its projects to facilitate the return of the displaced people of that country. The European Union has deployed its Rule of Law Mission, which is doing an excellent job and providing extremely valuable help to the Government of Kosovo and its authorities in consolidating the rule of law and functional democracy in Kosovo, as well as in developing the highest European standards for the coexistence of the various ethnic communities. The International Security Force in Kosovo has also played a very positive role, and the very fact that its strength has been reduced is clear evidence of the stability in that country.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The last decade of brutal conflict in the Balkans seems to have been consigned to the annals of history. The countries of that region are now engaged in a process of cooperation in all fields and in European and Euro-Atlantic integration. This year, Albania and Croatia became full members of NATO. Other countries of the region have made significant progress towards EU and NATO membership. I must stress at this point that, although only a short time has passed since Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the establishment of the independent state of Kosovo has become an important factor for peace and stability in South-East Europe. In that country, which declared independence 20 months ago, inter-ethnic relations have improved and inter-ethnic tensions have been significantly reduced. Serbs are no longer leaving Kosovo.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In the framework of the Alliance of Civilizations and in accordance with our national strategy on intercultural dialogue, we offer our example of religious harmony and coexistence, one of the most invaluable spiritual heritages of our nation, as a contribution to the aims of this United Nations initiative. This general debate was preceded by the Summit on Climate Change. It gives me great pleasure to inform the Assembly that more than 90 per cent of the electricity my country consumes comes from 3 09-52592 renewable hydroelectric power. Although we are open to other energy sources, including nuclear, we are working hard and have so far secured about €5 billion in new investment for new hydroelectric, wind and biomass energy plants. Albania intends to become a small super-Power of green energy in the region.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“This project has had an excellent track record in my country due to the coherence and better coordination of the activities of United Nations bodies with those of our national authorities, particularly with regard to aligning international projects with the country’s priorities. We have been pleased to see that our reform priorities and national strategy on European integration are in full harmony with the Millennium Development Goals and those of the Delivering as One initiative. The outcome has demonstrated that this project, the philosophy of which depends on the concept of national ownership, has produced more efficient implementation of United Nations development programmes. Albania is a multireligious society with religious harmony par excellence.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I take this opportunity to invite investors from all countries to consider my country for their projects, which will definitely turn out to be success stories for them, and for Albania. Albania has maintained excellent cooperation with the United Nations and its agencies. Albania is one of the pilot countries of the Delivering as One initiative, and through its experience and positive results is making a real contribution to this United Nations reform. Delivering as One provides for excellent savings of time and money, as well as much more efficient coordination of the work of United Nations agencies in their cooperation with Member States.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I believe that the main factors protecting the Albanian economy in this crisis were, first, the very fact that Albania has the lowest fiscal burden in Europe and that its economy is largely based on liberal standards; secondly, the fact that my Government has invested 10 per cent of the country’s GDP in infrastructure projects in 2009, or, taking into account investment for 2008, 20 per cent of GDP over the past two years; thirdly, our thorough reforms aimed at achieving smaller Government, as a result of which Albania now has one of the smallest public administrations per capita in Europe and, indeed, in the entire world; and, last but not least, the very favourable climate for business and investment created by my Government over the past four years.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Despite these consequences, however, Albanian gross domestic product (GDP) grew by more than 5 per cent in the first six months of 2009, our revenues saw an 8 per cent increase compared with those of last year, and foreign direct investment was 59 per cent higher than last year.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Over the past three years, some 400,000 Albanians have moved up from below the poverty line, while extreme poverty has been reduced by 70 per cent; tens of thousands of new jobs have been created; the number of university students has doubled and infant mortality has been drastically reduced. (spoke in English) The years 2008 and 2009 have seen the worst financial and economic crisis the world has known since the Great Depression. The Albanian economy has felt the consequences of the crisis. Its exports fell by 10 per cent and the levels of financial credit were drastically reduced.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The international watchdog Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights reported that the elections met the principal standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and deserve a generally positive assessment. The newly elected Government has proclaimed the following core pillars of its programmes: building new and modern infrastructure throughout the country; bringing Albania into the digital age; reforming the health-care and education systems; fighting poverty, and creating new jobs for Albanian citizens. Next year here at the United Nations, we will assess the progress we have made towards fulfilling the Millennium Goals. Albania has put intense effort into achieving significant progress in this area.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“(spoke in French) As a European country, Albania remains fully committed and determined to carry out every reform and to take every decision and every other measure required of it on the road to membership of the European Union (EU). More than 94 per cent of Albanians support Albania’s application process for joining the EU. This is not only highly encouraging, 09-52592 2 but also a major obligation for my Government to proceed swiftly along this path. This autumn, we expect a positive response from the Council of Ministers of the European Union to our application for candidate status, while we also hope to obtain visa liberalization as soon as possible. Albania is a new but functioning democracy. About two months ago, we held general parliamentary elections.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We are gathered here once again at a time when hundreds of millions of people are being oppressed by tyrannical regimes or are facing extreme poverty, disease and major health or social calamities. We are gathered here at a time when brutal conflicts continue to take the lives of innocent people in various regions of our world, and when nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea represent a genuine threat to world peace. Albania and the Albanian people continue to engage in international cooperation and are determined to offer their modest contribution to advancing peace, freedom and security and respect for human rights, fighting poverty, promoting sustainable development and prosperity and, last but not least, protecting the environment.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I have the special pleasure today to extend to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, President of the General Assembly, my congratulations on his excellent work in presiding over the sixty-fourth session of this Assembly. I would also like to thank his predecessor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, for his work in successfully leading the Assembly at its sixty- third session. I avail myself of this opportunity to extend my greetings to all those present in this Hall today. I also express my deep gratitude to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his high competence and professionalism in leading the United Nations, and acknowledge his important personal contribution to the success of this session. We are gathered here today after a year in which the world has faced one of the worst financial and economic crises in history.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“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.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)