TIRANA, August 23 /ATA/ Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhaçka participated today in the virtual summit “Platform of Crimea” at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, together with heads of states and governments from over 50 countries and international organizations.
In her speech, Minister Xhaçka said that Albania has supported Ukraine and its resistance to aggression as much as possible.
“A year ago, representatives from our countries gathered in Kiev for the presentation of the Crimean Platform. I am very happy to see that today, one year later, the number of participants as well as the level of representation from countries and organizations has increased. I believe it is not only a clear statement of support for Ukraine and unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s illegal aggression against an innocent country, but also a clear recognition of the fact that it all started with the illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014” , said Xhaçka.
“The current war, a senseless, criminal war that has caused such suffering and destruction, has its roots in the occupation of Crimea and the fact that at the time the world did not react properly to what was a flagrant violation of international law , of the United Nations Charter and the entire rules-based order. The world’s reaction was mild. The price that Russia paid for its illegal action was such that instead of serving as an obstacle, it served simply as an encouragement for the current war,” Xhaçka emphasized.
“For us in Albania, for us in the Western Balkans, these crimes and these images affect us deeply. Before Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine, the Western Balkans was the scene of the last war in Europe. This is why Albania has supported Ukraine to the maximum and its heroic resistance to aggression, being one of the first countries to send weapons to Ukraine, contributing to the Donors’ Conference, adopting the appropriate legal framework that allows us to welcome to our country Ukrainians fleeing the war and staying in line with all EU sanctions against Russia and doing our best in the Security Council, as co-sponsors with our US allies, to diplomatically support Ukraine and isolate Russia”, underlined Xhaçka.
But, continued Xhaçka, “There is another reason, perhaps even more important, why Albania supports Ukraine and why we believe that any country that believes in international law, in the UN Charter, in the order based on rules, must support Ukraine until the liberation of all occupied territories, the restoration of its sovereignty over all temporarily occupied territories, and the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from any part of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory. If we do not do so now, then it would jeopardize the entire international rules-based order, the entire security architecture that we all rely on for world peace and stability, and would encourage every country and authoritarian leader in the world to undertake the same actions as these”.
The “Crimea Platform” is an international mechanism specially created by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2021, that is, before the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine, to draw international attention to the problem of Crimea, in order to turn the peninsula into the composition of Ukraine. /j.p/r.e/p.s./
