Albania backs Ahtisaari’s plan on Kosova

TIRANA, Feb. 3 – Albanian on Friday welcomed the U.N. plan on the final status of Kosova, believing it will bring an end to the province’s status quo of getting nowhere.
“This is no doubt a historical moment for Kosovo, as well as for the whole region,” Albanian Foreign Minister Besnik Mustafaj told a press conference, highly evaluating U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari for his hard work. Prime Minister Sali Berisha repeated that “only independence is the solution that gives peace and stability.” He also added that “Albania would make the utmost to help Kosova citizens for a free, independent, European Kosova, a state of equal citizens in front of the law.” He said the project would give an end to the biggest injustice in the Balkans, because it preserved Kosova’s territorial integrity, respected Kosova’s people will and that it would become “an agreement of peace and stability for Kosova and the region.” President Alfred Moisiu also hailed the Ahtisaari’s project and invited Kosova Albanians to support that.
Albania has been the strongest supporter of independence for Kosova, where ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of its population. Serbia wants to keep at least some control over the province, and last month approved a new constitution declaring Kosova an integral part of its territory. Albania has said Serbia’s constitutional claim over Kosova is unacceptable. Since the end of the war between Serb military forces and separatists in the southern province in 1999, Kosova has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.