Bushat urges unity in Tirana for Kosovo: September 24th terrorist attack, a loud alarm bell

Albania's former Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati, has directed criticism of the political class in Tirana that is being agreed on the adoption of a resolution for condemning the September 24th attack on Zvecan Baniska, in northern Kosovo.

Taking an example of condemning Hamas' terrorist attack against Israel on Saturday, Bushati wrote on Facebook how two weeks from the attack in northern Kosovo, in Tirana the common language is being found to condemn this.

“While two weeks have passed since the September 24th terrorist attack in Kosovo, the same political wings still do not find the common language for adopting a resolution in Albania's Parliament, for condemning the terrorist attack on Kosovo and denouncing it by the name of inspirers and perpetrators of the attack, who claimed their lives at the helm of duty, police officer Africa Buxaku. In my memory, the July 22, 2010. As the International Court of Justice solemnly declared its decision on compliance with Kosovo's international independence right, a large screen appeared in the Albanian Parliament, where MPs without exception attended the marathon session of The Hague. There were no major events for the nation. Thus, the July 22, 2010, parliamentary session was up to the national conscience. Albanian politics witnessed dignity. There was no calendar, no schedule or planned parliamentary agenda that could compete with that historic event. The symbol of the parliamentary session was clear: the national issue has priority over the daily policy of”, Bushati wrote on Facebook.

Bushati said that “could be allowed to lack determination on the part of Albania to appoint or promote states or groupings that require the rerun of Kosovo”.

“Under current political and security circumstances in Europe, the September 24th terrorist attack on Kosovo is a strong alarm bell. Serbia's behaviour to Kosovo is no longer a political issue, but a serious security issue for the region and Europe's future. The choice is no longer between the failure and success of dialogue, but between stability and a further escalation of violence. The latter will likely happen if Serbia's role, such as decomposing regional stability, the former diplomat wrote.

“13 years later, banal squabbling, competition with draft resolutions and demand for interference, convey the unacceptable message that vuvuzel policy has preceded the national issue. This is not in the dignity of politics nor at the level of expectations of Albanian society. Kosovo is not the subject of foreign policy and cannot even be addressed as the topic of domestic political debate. Kosovo deserves to have its own invulnerable country, despite the circumstances that daily politics produces. We should not allow Albania's lack of determination to appoint or promote states or groupings that require the deterioration of Kosovo. In the current political and security circumstances in Europe, the September 24th terrorist attack on Kosovo is a strong alarm leg. Serbia's behaviour to Kosovo is no longer a political issue, but a serious security issue for the region and Europe's future. The choice is no longer between the failure and success of dialogue, but between stability and a further escalation of violence. The latter will likely happen if Serbia's role is tolerated, such as obstructing regional stability”, Bushati wrote.

Politics in Tirana, as he says, “should be established up to the demands of Albanian society and unanimously adopt a resolution in the Albanian Assembly”.

Albania's “Assembly has many men and women with knowledge and state experience that can draw up a joint document to stay in the storms of time. Albania's Parliament resolution must condemn the attacks and provocations inspired by Serbia against Kosovo, and seek Serbia's co-operation with Kosovo, starting with the handover of the perpetrators of the attack and the acceptance of an international investigation. Albania's Assembly and the Albanian government must engage in a genuine diplomatic effort to approve a resolution at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and appoint independent reporters to whiteen the circumstances of the event. In view of the mission and the area of responsibility of the Council of Europe, the practice consolidated with the handling of such cases, but also the fact that Russia is no longer part of this pan-European organisation to protect human freedoms and rights, Albania must channel policy-diplomatic agencies in the function of meeting this goal. At the same time, Albania should facilitate Kosovo's presentation of evidence and facts at international forums and organisations, where Kosovo has no access to, in terms of the activities of executionists and commanders of terrorist attack”, Bushati wrote.

He said the resolution issued by Albania's Parliament should support the work of all Kosovo institutions in the rule of law enforcement, order and protection of Kosovo's territorial integrity.

Albania's “Resolution of the Parliament should support the work of all Kosovo institutions in the rule of law enforcement, order and protection of Kosovo's territorial integrity, and foster close co-ordination of Kosovo's elected institutions with strategic partners: US, EU and United Kingdom. The resolution of Albania's Parliament should reaffirm the steadfast commitment of our country as a member of NATO and EU candidate, in the protection and promotion of regional security architecture, supported by the US, NATO and the EU, since the fall of the iron curtain, which is based on the failure to change borders, interethnic co-existence, the protection of fundamental human freedoms and rights with the focus of minorities, and the acceptance of the decisions of the International Court of Justice. In this context, the partnership between Albania and Kosovo is strategic for us, stabilizers for the region and orientation for the Euro-Atlantic future. Albania's Parliament resolution should denounce the policy of revising the history and degloring war criminals and terrorist acts from Serbia as an obstacle to the peace, stability and European future of the region”, Bushati wrote.

The resolution should also, according to him, support NATO allies' commitment to adding troops to KFOR, as guarantees for the invisibility of Kosovo's security perimeter. With this resolution, Bushati says five EU states that have yet to recognise Kosovo must be called on.

The resolution of Albania's Parliament should call on five EU member states, four of them NATO members, to recognise Kosovo's independence as a contribution to EU credibility as mediator; implementation of European plans for the region; and at the same time, as a message to Serbia to accept the post-war reality in the former Yugoslavia and to walk in the direction of the European road. The resolution of Albania's Parliament should call on NATO member states to include Kosovo as soon as possible in the Partnership for Peace Programme; and EU member states to begin reviewing EU membership application”, Bushati has written.