Mustafaj: Working Freely to Help Integration of Albania, Kosovo

Voice of America: Mr Mustafaj! You celebrate these days the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Council of Albanian Ambassadors, an organisation that unites many Albanian diplomats from Albania and Kosovo. What will you isolate and what are your first thoughts on this anniversary of your organization?

Loyal Mustafaj: We are an organisation of former ambassadors, former foreign ministers and high-level diplomats. To be honest, I didn't think five years ago when this organization was founded, that we would have such a rich balance today. We are people attracted and out of real diplomatic activity. We don't work paid for the state, none of us. My first thought is satisfaction with the high score that's been scored. For 5 years we are a completely voluntary organization. We are not financed by either Albanian public money or international organisations or the European Union. We're completely a volunteer organization and we have a very rich balance. If you look at our annual report, it's a rich balance of over 60 or 70 pages. I believe we've been able to mobilise our energy, our expertise and our positive human vulnerability, that we want to be useful to our country. First, I want to isolate the structure and platform of the organization: We are the only bipartisan organisation; we have in the Bay of the organisation former diplomats of all socialist and democratic levels, and we have no hesitation in our relations because we have found our common goal; to serve national foreign policy, Euro-Atlantic integration, strengthening Albania and Kosovo's friendly international ties. We have found and adopted a common platform beyond left and right politics, which follow governments. This is a poor success in conditions of a politically polarised society such as Albania. The next important point is the establishment of contacts with counterparts organisations. We've had the American Ambassador Council as a mentor, and we have an agreement with them, and we've participated in their activities and we have continuous correspondence. They spread our statements and attitudes through their communication networks. For all these reasons we feel proud in this five years of our commitment and the fruits of our work.

Voice of America: Mr Mustafaj! You just mentioned a rich balance of your work. What will you isolate from the activity of the Albanian Ambassador Council?

Loyal Mustafaj: We have had and have two major goals -- the European integration of Albania and Kosovo. We have made criticisms, which have been in the same philosophy, which has made the European Union for the level of democracy in Albania, for the level of reforms and many other aspects, which have become an obstacle to Albania's pace of integration into the European Union. At the same time we have strongly supported all efforts by the Kosovo republic government for an international affirmation, for international recognition, for Kosovo's integration into various organisations like the Council of Europe, U n NESTO, and other organisations, where the Republic of Kosovo has applied, as well as dialogue with Serbia, as the necessary way to normalise relations and lead to mutual recognition between the two countries. In this kind of framework, we have constantly had in mind the problems Albanians have in the Balkans. I'm just mentioning our latest report. We, as the Council of Albanian Ambassadors, organized an information tour, were in Bujanovac, Medvedja and Presevo. We've made a report on this last few days and distributed it to the American Congress, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Union. We distributed this Wednesday and within two days, Friday, our report with the problems we found on the ground was included in the publishing of O'O's office. The SEU in Serbia. Our dedication to the fate of Albanians on their lands, even outside Albania and outside Kosovo, is serious and taken seriously by international organisations.

Voice of America: Mr Mustafaj! Your organization has a large number of diplomats, former ministers, ambassadors in its bosom. Have you had cooperation, or invitations to co-operation by Albania's public and non-public institutions to help in such a challenging area as diplomacy in the Balkan region?

Loyal Mustafaj: We are an organisation with higher-level experts. All former ambassadors, who are members of our organisation, as well as the former ministers, are professionals of higher levels who have worked and condemned their career and expertise in the integration processes of Albania and Kosovo in NATO and European Baskin. This is a very precious experience and expertise bank, which we voluntarily place in the service of the national foreign policy of Albania and Kosovo. In Kosovo, they hear more, but in Albania, zero. I, as president of the Ambassador Council, have gone to the office to Albania's foreign affairs minister, wrote letters to the prime minister of Albania, as well as to presidents one by one, to express the very positive will we have to put our expertise in the service of state interests without becoming an annex. We are an independent organisation, which receives neither orders nor government funding, but we have the same common goal with the government and the opposition. I went to the office on behalf of the Council of Albanian Ambassadors, both Mr. Meta and the current president to express this readiness. So far we haven't had any offers from the state. Our statements, our analyses are widely published in Albanian media even in international media.

Voice of America: Organisations similar to yours in Western democracy countries have professional co-operation with their states. Why doesn't that happen in Albania?

Loyal Mustafaj: Why not? It's a French song that says: I love you. Not you. They don't feel the need, they don't feel it. I don't know what to say anymore. We don't have a trial, and we don't have any complaints, because we're not being ruined by our career. We are people who have closed our official career, but we have in our organization people with good will and full energy to help. Former ambassadors Spiro Koci, Genc Mucaj, Flamur Gashi, for example, and others spend many hours voluntarily to make the expertise of the entire Ambassador Council for national foreign policy useful.

Voice of America: Mr Mustafaj! You said a little higher than from Kosovo you have more invitations for co-operation in the field of diplomacy, professional expertise consultation. Can you explain something more specific?

Loyal Mustafaj: We are diplomats and are known to have public co-operation and confidential co-operation. Understanding we have found in Pristina with the prime minister, with the president, with the foreign minister, with the Kosovo parliament. We find in Kosovo institutions a greater readiness to take advantage of the Albanian ambassadors' expertise.

Voice of America: Mr Mustafaj! These days, he visits the region with your invitation, a delegation from the American Ambassador Council, whose members are 17 former ambassadors. What can you tell us about this visit as its host and organizer? What is the purpose of this visit?

Loyal Mustafaj: We're a partner organization with the American Ambassador Council. They are friends who have established us since our founding. They come on a research trip to the region on the Albanian issue, focusedly. In Tirana, they will have meetings with the president of the Republic, with opposition politicians, as well as with a representative of Montenegro's Albanians. They will participate in our 5th anniversary celebration Monday evening, then go to Kosovo, where they will meet with all the key authorities, with the opposition political parties, as well as with a representation of the Valley from Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanoc. Their visit also continues in Skopje with a series of meetings with North Macedonia authorities. There will be long consultations everywhere, and they will surely eventually produce a report. The agenda is very busy and prepared based on the demands of our colleagues from Washington. They come to positively influence Albanian issues; whether they are of democracy in Albania, whether they are much more complex in Kosovo, dealing with dialogue and the internal reforms Kosovo has ahead of it to join the Council of Europe and move on its European perspective. This too is a help and support, coming free to the Albanian nation. They too are volunteers, and we are grateful to them.