Albania clashes with Serbia in New York

NEW YORK, Sep. 28 – Kosova became the main issue of debate between Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha and the Serbian counterparts.
Albania made it clear that it supports the package proposed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari serving as U.N. envoy, adding that a further delay would create an unstable situation not only in Kosova and Serbia but in the entire Balkan region.
The stand was harshly opposed by Belgrade top leaders considering that an interference and also finding support on not defining an independent Kosova in Moscow, Russia.
The clash of words was noted in the words of the speeches held from Berisha and Serbian President Boris Tadic, both setting their views clearly in front of representatives from all the world countries.
Further on Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic considered Berisha’s speech a direct interference. That found immediate reaction from the Albanian counterpart Lulzim Basha clearly saying that Belgrade could hardly claim a territorial entity with Kosova which it had lost since the NATO intervention in 1999.
Using the right of reply, Serbia’s representative Jeremic criticized Berisha for “openly calling for the violation” of the territorial integrity of a UN Member State, particularly on the eve of such crucial direct talks.
The representative said havoc would ensue around the world if other countries called for the independence of regions in neighboring nations that have the same ethnic majority as their own.
In a further response, Albania’s representative Basha said his Prime Minister had “no further agenda” beyond support for what he called the “fair, balanced and sustainable” approach proposed by Ahtisaari. He added that he was hopeful that the talks starting in New York tomorrow would produce a solution.
The only option for Kosova that will bring durable peace and stability to the region is full independence for the Serbian province, according to Berisha.
In his address Berisha accused Serbia, which opposes independence and has proposed that the province be given greater autonomy instead, of a lack of realism.
Berisha said that there were minimal chances the U.N. would pass a resolution on a possible future independent Kosova and blamed Russia on that.
“There are very rare countries that see another solution but independence,” said Berisha speaking at his cabinet upon arrival from New York.
The premier said that it was very likely that Moscow would use the veto so that Kosova’s independence will be declared unilaterally and then recognized individually by each country.
Berisha told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that independence for Kosova would reflect the “expressed will of her citizens” and not set an international precedent for other regions seeking self-government and enhanced autonomy.
“The claim that the independence of Kosova may lead to the creation of Greater Albania cannot be farther from the truth,” Berisha added, using the Albanian name for the province.
Earlier this year the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the issue, Martti Ahtisaari, proposed a phased plan of independence for Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs and other minorities by about nine to one.
In July, a troika comprising the European Union, Russia and the United States agreed to lead further negotiations on Kosovo’s future status, while the wider Contact Group for Kosovo is meeting today at UN Headquarters in New York to discuss the issue.
Berisha also appealed to Kosova leaders to coordinate their work with the United States and those countries that support its independence.