OSCE valuable security provider, Albanian Foreign Minister says

TIRANA, Nov 9 – A speech by Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe headquarters in Vienna, Austria clarified a hot topic between the country and the international organization.
The speech was a clear indication that Albania still needs the OSCE to stay and assist the country, contrary to what was rumored earlier this year that the government and the governing Democratic Party would likely ask for a reconsideration of the OSCE role in Albania.
The OSCE is best-placed to promote democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, good governance and rule of law – all essential for security, Basha told the organization’s Permanent Council last week.
“The OSCE continues to be an essential forum for discussion, co-operation and mutual understanding which has not exhausted its potential as a valuable security provider in the vast area over which the organization spans,” he said.
Basha praised the work carried out by the OSCE’s Presence in Albania, saying it had supported the country in areas such as electoral reforms and a transfer of the civil registry to an electronic registry of the population.
He also urged the organization to bring as many monitors as possible in Albania’s next general election in mid-2009.
He called 2008 “a turning point for the region of South-Eastern Europe” because of developments including in Kosova, and NATO’s membership invitations to Albania and Croatia.
“Never has the European perspective for the region been so clear and near to conclusion,” he said. “The independence of Kosova has stabilized the region. Despite the opposition it faced, it has contributed to peace and security.”
Basha reiterated that Albania wants to host the OSCE Chairmanship in 2012.
“This chairmanship will be a demonstration not only of the increased contributing capacities of a country that has co-operated, that has been assisted and that has benefited from the OSCE, but also an additional possibility for the promotion of the various interests of the region itself,” he said.