Albania focused on Kosova’s independence, NATO membership

TIRANA, Feb. 12 – Albania’s Foreign Minister, Lulzim Basha, said that further delays to Kosova’s independence could threaten regional stability.
Basha supported Kristina’s preparations for its declaration of independence from Serbia, now expected this Sunday.
“I think it’s up to officials in Prishtina to make the date official. In our judgment, as we have always said, the postponement of the independence process would not help peace and stability in the region,” said Basha, ahead of his visit to Britain where he met with his counterpart, David Milliband.
Basha also said in an interview with the BBC that Kosovar Albanians had assured all minorities, especially Serbs, that “independent Kosova would be the home for all those who call it their home and that an independent Kosova was an opportunity not only for Kosova and its citizens but for the whole region to release positive energy and to set aside the past.”
The minister repeated that Tirana would continue it moderating role in the region.
Regarding the possibility that Serbia would set an embargo on Kosova, Basha said that Prishtina was surrounded by neighbors who have made all preparations to maintain links with it.
“Albania has undertaken all the measures,” he said, adding they were made known to the Kosovar Albanian leaders during his visit there two weeks ago.
He also added that Prishtina had been in close contacts with Macedonia and Montenegro as well.
The minister considered such a Serb move, if it happened, as “desperate” saying it would damage its international image and would damage the Serb economy.
Basha said that, despite contradictory stands on Kosova, Tirana had good relations with Belgrade.
“We also believe that Kosova’s future, like that of any other country in the region, is in joining the European and euro-Atlantic one,” he said.
Basha was also optimistic that his country would receive an invitation to join NATO when the Alliance’s summit meets in April.
He based that optimism on his talks with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana when he met them at a security conference in Munich, Germany.
“During these meetings Basha gained full-scale support for Albania’s objective of receiving an invitation for NATO membership during the summit in Bucharest and positive assessment for the reforms that Albania has launched in the security, economic and political fields,” read a press release from the foreign ministry.
Basha said in an interview with the BBC that the focus of the NATO candidate countries, Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, remained on fulfilling the required reforms that will continue after the summit as well.
“We have seen that the atmosphere in the decision-taking circles on the prospects, that is the possibility of taking an invitation from Albania, is in a continuous and daily progression,” said Basha in the interview.
“Albania membership in NATO and the EU are major international goals and nothing would stop our moving towards them,” he said.