TIRANA, July 9 – Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha took part last week at a summit of the southern European countries held in Dubrovnik, where he discussed not only developments in Albania, but also the status of Kosova independence.
Participants from other countries were also government heads or presidents, as well as foreign ministers. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Spain Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, Council of Europe Secretary general Terry Davis, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried and others participated in the conference.
Basha said that regional and European integration remain the major challenge for the countries in the region.
The minister urged the free movement of citizens within the region by lifting visas restrictions.
Kosova was a top issue in the summit. Basha considered it a major problem not only for the region, but also for the world. He regretted it is still unresolved and criticized the United Nations for not passing a resolution on a new, supervised independence for the province.
A U.N.-sponsored plan drafted after more than a year of negotiations between officials from Kosovo and Serbia recommends independence for the province, but Belgrade has rejected the plan, along with Russia. Tirana strongly supports the U.N. proposal, which it says is based on compromise.
Albania received another positive sign from NATO’s Scheffer that its doors are open but that it should also continue to comply with its requests and it asks for serious reforms.
