TIRANA, Sept 24 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama stated in his address to the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that “this Assembly is not and will not be complete without one of the states in our region, the Republic of Kosovo.”
“The European integration process represents an anchor for Albania’s future and we look forward to the first Intergovernmental Conference in accordance with the previous decision of the EU Council to open accession negotiations with Albania. I have said in Tirana, in Brussels and everywhere, and I want to repeat it here: Albania has been ready for a while. It is waiting for the EU will do its part. EU integration is a national priority goal; it is a region-wide aspiration and a source of inspiration. In a completely transformed regional context, all six Western Balkan countries have agreed to enhance economic cooperation by developing a Common Regional Market, based on EU rules and standards,” PM Rama said.
“We have entered a new and ambitious phase of co-operation and are also working to concretely implement the 4 EU fundamental freedoms: freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital through the “Open Balkans” initiative. It is the mark and proof of our regional ownership, convinced that it will generate economic growth, reduce unemployment, increase trade, investment, and employment in the Western Balkan and, last but not least, make peace irreversible and help the resolution of conflicts once and for all,” the government head stated.
“The history of the United Nations is one of uninterrupted enlargement. It started with 50 members in San Francisco and we are now 193. But still, this large Assembly is not and will not be complete without one of the states in our region, the Republic of Kosovo.
You have heard me more than once here call for the recognition of the independence of Kosovo. It is not an obsession, nor do I mention it just to pay lip service to the cause. It is an invitation to acknowledge the new realities in the heart of Europe, through the Balkan region where a new state was born with the help of an international community committed to the cause of freedom, human rights and self-determination. But that work needs to be finished. I want to reiterate this call and do so because reality has shown, to us, to the Kosovars, to the Serbs, to all Balkan people, to the Europeans and to everyone anywhere who wants to see it, that an independent and sovereign Kosovo – a reality already 13-years-strong – has brought more peace and stability in the region, has contributed to move ahead from the bitter past, and is undeniably part of the common future of the Western Balkans,” he added.
“Albania supports as the only alternative the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which should lead to mutual recognition between two States, two neighbors. Every day without such an agreement is a day lost, a day stolen to the youth in both countries, a day taken off the common future. I say it in a friendly way but with absolute conviction: only wisdom, courage and vision will finally liberate Serbia from the burden of its past,” PM Rama remarked.
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