Clinton calls it “taken by” tensions in the north, says Kosovo erred

In his speech to Albania's top officials and citizens gathered in honour of it on “Nation witnesses” in Tirana, he stressed that elections in the north should be held as soon as possible.

There is a dispute going on in Kosovo that I would like had never happened. It's not up to me anymore, it's Kosovars. I think authorities have made a mistake with choosing four new mayors”, Clinton said.

They should take advantage of the moment to stop this madness. What major political issue can be advanced by tension? Those people in those municipalities need a decent government and citizens should vote”, the former American president added.

Local Serbs in four municipalities in Kosovo's north had boycotted elections held in April, prompting leaders in those Serb majority municipalities to elect four Albanians.

Tensions in these municipalities have been mounting since May 26th, when Kosovo authorities helped new mayors enter municipal facilities. The international factor has called for suspension of the situation.

Clinton also said he is convinced that the US is “committed to Albania's freedom, strength and integrity”, despite having no role in the current US administration.

Present in honour of former President Bill Clinton were representatives of the Albanian government, ambassadors accredited in Tirana, representatives of the opposition, local power, religious communities.

But some young people and Kosovo children, named Clinton and his wife, became part of the ceremony.

He was very excited by the thanks he received during the ceremony, in which he was decorated with “The Thanksgiving for Public Affliction”.

I'm speechless. I think if I had a very sound judgment, I wouldn't say anything. I am really speechless”, Clinton said, on the first day of his two-day stay in Albania at the invitation of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

During his speech, Rama said he himself was exemplary in Clinton and praised him for his role in ending the war in Kosovo.

Rama called Clinton's speech in March 1999, when he announced NATO's intervention in Kosovo, another “pearl” and said that speech was “for the history of Kosovo and our region, a defining stone of the future road”.

He also highlighted some of the aid the US provided during Clinton's administration gave to Albania, freshly broken by the communist regime.

This is Bill Clinton's first visit to Tirana, meanwhile 11 years ago visited Albania by his wife, Hillary Clinton, who the world held the post of secretary of State.

Clinton was US president at the time of the Kosovo war, and he played a key role for NATO to launch bombings on Serb targets, which led to Kosovo's liberation.

At that world, Clinton had declared that the decision to launch the bombings was made to protect thousands of innocent people in Kosovo from the regime of then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Clinton has first visited Kosovo in May 1999. He also stayed in Kosovo in 2009 and 2019. On his last visit, he was associated with the late American secretary, Madeleine Albright. They participated in ceremonies held for the 20th anniversary of NATO troops' entry into Kosovo, marked as Freedom Day.

NATO peacekeeping troops entered Kosovo on 12 June 1999, following the alliance's air campaign against Serb targets in Kosovo and Serbia, which lasted 78 days.