TIRANA, September 13–Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has taken to social media to respond to three recent significant developments. These include Albania’s upcoming leadership of the United Nations Security Council, the Fredi Beleri case, and the meeting between Kosovo and Serbia’s leaders in Brussels.
Rama characterized Albania’s forthcoming presidency of the Security Council as a historic milestone in the realm of international relations.
The Prime Minister’s full statement
– Next week, Albania will lead the Security Council, just as the entire world gathers at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This is a historic moment in Albania’s international relations, signifying our elevation to a new level. There are many reasons to be proud of Albania today, but most of them serve as a reminder of how much more Albania can achieve and how determined we must be to ascend to new heights as a nation and a people, without complacency. One of the key reasons for pride and inspiration in our current national and political thinking and actions is the fact that, despite Albanians being spread across several states in the Western Balkans, Albania remains a unique example of not exploiting its ethnic communities in other countries. We never incite ethnic tensions either within neighboring states or among neighboring states. This respects the sentiments that can fuel opposition and ignite conflicts in this corner of Europe, where we are all destined to live together in harmony and strive to leave our children a space of understanding, tolerance, and peace.
For us in Tirana, the ethnic communities scattered throughout the Western Balkans are a bridge of friendship and cooperation, just as Albanians settled in many states are bearers of a common future in peace with everyone, not sparks to ignite conflicts in the name of past grievances, which often fuel the short-sighted politics of the region.
There is no doubt that some bystanders, as well as some of our international allies and partners, sometimes perceive our emancipatory approach to building and nurturing friendly relations with everyone as something ordinary, taken for granted, and almost unimportant. Not that this makes us doubt our approach, which is as pragmatic as it is profoundly valuable, for a European community like ours in Albania. However, it is essential to remind everyone in certain situations or moments that we offer trust, respect, and friendship, but no one should ever take us for granted, for fools, or for granted. We welcome criticism and help for improvement from everyone, but lessons in coexistence and respect for the other ethnicities in Albania cannot be provided by anyone.
– The parliamentary majority and the government I lead have firmly supported and devised an extensive and profoundly European reform of the justice system, so much so that today, for the first time in the history of our state, Albania is emerging from the waters of systemic impunity that have lasted for over 100 years. The independent criminal investigation and prosecution of several high-ranking officials linked to the previous political power, including one former deputy prime minister, are solid proof of an epochal change in our country’s life. Many said that it would never happen in Albania that the powerful would be held accountable, but it is now clear that it is happening. Others claimed that the government would somehow control the new judicial institutions, but it is now clear that it is not happening.
Some say that when it comes to a hot potato in the hands of justice, like that of Mr. Beleri, I should intervene and throw the potato into the sea, but that will never happen. I will continue to express my disappointment to everyone that the fight against corruption and organized crime will only intensify, regardless of the pains and costs because this fight is just and necessary for the European Albania of all the children of this country. Unfortunately, the stereotype that corruption is a way of life in the Balkans and that everyone is the same still exists, and therefore everyone must be pointed fingers at, no matter what they do to prove otherwise, extends beyond the roofs of Western capital cities. The lack of success in investigating, prosecuting, and trying high-level corruption, year after year, is a cliché repeated by all sides in the Western Balkans in general and Albania the same. Copy-paste reports from the previous year have become fashionable, and important institutions or big-name organizations recycle them with something new that is as old as the past, based on investigations and perceptions gathered under the shadow of that stereotype. Fortunately, we know better than anyone how much things have changed, but also how much more needs to change, and even if some well-deserved words of praise and respect would make us happy as a sign of respect, the repetition of the same tune does not bother us at all because we are not doing this fight for Brussels, Berlin, or Washington; we are doing this for the children of Albania tomorrow.
– Tomorrow, the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia will meet in Brussels, and I, as always, pray that it will not be another empty round for the blame game. Despite our close ties and perhaps the unique relationship in the world with Kosovo, as another Albanian state bordering Albania, we have been and remain completely aligned with the efforts of the United States and the European Union to implement the plan for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Not because our strategic allies have always been right, but because they have never been wrong in their demands on both countries, especially Kosovo.
This June, during the peak of tensions in northern Kosovo municipalities, we regretfully canceled the joint meeting of the two governments with Kosovo, which had been planned for some time. No matter how many times we were to reverse it, we would cancel it a hundred times because, first, Albania is a responsible member of the Euro-Atlantic community, even when it needs to position itself concerning its own mistakes, not only when it needs to position itself in relation to Kosovo’s mistakes or, let alone, those of others.
Secondly, because it was the wrong time to hold a double-edged sword dance in Prizren, while Kosovo should have been on the side of its future, shoulder to shoulder with its strategic allies, not on the side of the past, from which the short-sighted conspiracy theories about Albanian malice still feed.
Later, aware that it was an unusual move, I presented our allies with Albania’s contribution to ongoing discussions on the creation of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, because I am fully in agreement with them on the need for rigorous implementation of everything Kosovo has pledged. Governments come and go, but serious states do not back down from their international commitments as easily as governments do.
However, I must emphasize that just because we are above does not mean that Albania sees Kosovo as the only one responsible for the deadlock in the dialogue. Not at all. Kosovo made significant progress in the right direction, by accepting the French-German plan without reference to mutual recognition and by also accepting the self-governance proposal for the Serb community. I immediately applauded Albin Kurti for this step, both personally and publicly. Now is the time for Serbia to step out of the stubborn denial of reality and act in good faith, allowing a sequence of implementation that meets the needs of both parties within the framework of the French-German plan.
Albania has extended its hand to Serbia. Ironically, in some cases, we have been the only country in the region to openly speak against sanctions on Serbia and have clearly explained why we hold this stance. However, it must be emphasized that a successful conclusion to the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia is also necessary for the sustainable future of Albania-Serbia relations. Unfortunately, while trying unsuccessfully to understand Kosovo’s tactics, I remain equally unsuccessful in understanding Serbia’s dialogue strategy. I suspect that Belgrade’s strategy is to delay the process and benefit as much as possible from Pristina’s self-defeating tactics, which have continually victimized Serbia on the international stage.
Unfortunately, some also forget that we are no longer in the 1990s. Albania stands for peace, reconciliation, a shared future, and dot. But nonetheless, if things go wrong, Albania and Albanians are with Kosovo, and that is non-negotiable. That said, I sincerely hope that all those involved in the normalization process are aware of what is at stake today between Kosovo and Serbia and understand damn well that any other alternative, except for immediate, all-encompassing implementation of the French-German plan on the road to normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia, is playing with fire, where those who play will burn first, and even worse, in the end, the whole region will be burnt to a crisp, but Europe itself will not be spared.
The successful conclusion of the Kosovo-Serbia normalization process is paramount for regional peace and security, but also for Europe’s security itself.
/Argumentum.al
