(Speech by President
of Kosova Fatmir Sejdiu at UN Security Council, New York City, on 19 March 2007,
at an Arria format meeting of the SC))Your Excellency, President of the Council
Your Excellencies, Members of the Council
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honored to have the opportunity to address this senior body of the United Nations Organization for the third time in nine months.
I speak to you as the President of Kosova and head of Kosova’s negotiating team, also dubbed the ‘Unity Team’, which is comprised of the political spectrum from both the governing and opposition blocks.
A long and complex process of negotiations and talks to determine the status of Kosova was wrapped up in Vienna, Austria, on March 10th. The process, chaired by former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari, UN’s Envoy for the status of Kosova, has resulted in a document – whose official title is “Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosova Status Settlement” – which starts the last chapter of the resolution of the Kosova issue once and for good.
We have said at the outset of the process, I re-emphasize today, that independence for Kosova is the alpha and omega – it is an existential issue for our people. No structural ties with the state institutions of Serbia shall be acceptable to us. Independence for our country means, first and foremost, independence from Serbia, as a crucial prerequisite for peace and stability in the region, as well as for the start of a meaningful process for the integration of Kosova and Serbia, as equally independent countries, into the European Union and the NATO.
The document on Kosova, which has been finalized after 14 months of intensive negotiating and talks between Kosova and Serbia, contains painful compromises that the Kosova delegation has made in a bid to fully accommodate the non-majority communities in Kosova, first and foremost the Serbia community. As you may have heard frequently these days, over two thirds of President Ahtisaari’s document is related to the provisions that ensure an effective representation and participation of the Serb community in the political, economic and institutional life of Kosova.
With a population over 90 percent ethnic Albanian, Kosova recognizes for its minorities a level of rights which minorities in other countries in Southeast Europe do not enjoy. The Serbian language of the 5 percent of the overall population enjoys the same official status with the Albanian language of the over 90 percent of the people of Kosova. On top of this, the languages of other minorities, such as the Turkish, Bosniack, and the Roman language, achieve the status of language in official use in the municipalities where the respective minorities make up half a dozen percent of the population.
Serbs and other minorities obtain with this status package rights and guarantees which ensure their political representation, namely their over-representation, but also rights for self-government at the local level, which other minorities in this part of Europe may only wish for. We guarantee these rights for them, because we want to build our destiny and our welfare on our own and our fellow citizens’ happiness alike, and not on the unhappiness of anyone, for that matter.
At the Vienna summit meeting of March 10th , the Kosova delegation stated in clear terms its support for the Ahtisaari plan – let me refer to this package in this way, using a now popular label for it.
Let me herewith re-iterate that the painful compromises and all the concessions that we have made during this negotiating process have been aimed at addressing the concerns and demands of the minorities, first and foremost of the Serbian community. I must say that, while expressing our anxiety that some of the arrangements laid down in this package may challenge the structural functionality of our state, we have subscribed to them so as to leave no room whatsoever for dissatisfaction within the Serb community.
Your Excellency, President of the Council
Your Excellencies, Members of the Council
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have welcomed this plan and commit ourselves to implementing it as a document which provides a good basis, as an accompanying package, for an independent state of Kosova, wherein the Albanian majority and the minorities assume their full responsibilities to run the country, fully respectful of the existential needs and cultural and ethnic sensibilities of each other.
We are fully confident that the Security Council of the United Nations will adopt a deserving position in support of President Ahtisaari’s plan. This plan contains all the necessary provisions to turn Kosova into an independent and functional state. We urge the Security Council, this high executive body of the UN, to adopt as soon as it can a decision which paves the way for the final determination of the status of Kosova, after eight years of temporary UN administration there.
This is the future Kosova, a modern state which comes to its fruition after a history of long resistance to foreign occupation, having gone through the storms of war and the formidable efforts towards physical and psychological recovery since 1999.
We have enjoyed generous assistance and aid from the democratic world in the post-ward period. They have helped us overcome our emergency needs and consolidate ourselves from problems resulting from the war and many years of lack of investments in Kosova. We are grateful to all the individual countries and international institutions which have come to our aid in the reconstruction efforts after the war in Kosova. We are especially grateful to the United Mission in Kosova (UNMIK), a mission which is winding down in the anticipation of a successful conclusion.
Let me point out that during this period, in aftermath of the entry of NATO troops and the deployment of the UN Mission in Kosova, significant democratic and developmental processes have occurred in our country. On the basis of free and democratic elections, sustainable institutions have been created at both the central and local levels – which have proven themselves worthy and functional. One of the successes of these institutions is Kosova’s economic recovery as well as the beginning of a fundamental transformation of this economy on basis of market economy. A modern legal infrastructure has been created in all areas. Kosova has created a sustainable banking and budgetary system, while conducting at the same time a successful privatization process. Be it as it may, for lack of clarity of Kosova’s status, our economy has failed to develop to its full potentials, as we have been unable to have access to international financial institutions and to engage in an even more successful partnership with foreign investors.
Sovereignty is for many reasons a prerequisite for the economic viability of our country: for long-term investment to ensure growth, exploiting the huge natural resources of Kosova (lignite, minerals, agricultural land), as well as the human resources – a young and well-educated population. To put it in a nutshell, sovereignty enables Kosova to prosper economically in a world increasingly interdependent amidst globalization trends.
In the past several years, Kosova has implemented a range of standards, known as the ‘Standards for Kosova’, which have improved the quality of life, democracy, as well as the rights and liberties of our citizens.
Your Excellency, President of the Council
Your Excellencies, Members of the Council
Ladies and gentlemen,
Now is the time for Kosova to be recognized as an independent and sovereign state, on account of its unique ethnic, geographical, historical and legal identity, as well as the democratic and representative structures it has established, including through the support of UNMIK. Kosova is a sui generis case in the fullest sense of the word. This notion is accepted almost universally today. With Kosova becoming a fully-fledged nation, we assume the responsibilities and obligations incumbent on a country that aspires to becoming part of the international system.
Even after achieving independence status, Kosova will enjoy for a certain period of time a significant international presence – both civilian and military – which we, the legitimate authorities of Kosova, have invited. This presence will be there to assist us in our road towards integration into the Euro-Atlantic family – the house of values we share together with the free and democratic nations of this part of the globe.
We have parted ways with Serbia since the 1990s. Kosova’s political elite was in pursuit of modern European values, whereas Serbia’s political elite had reverted to the myths of the 19th century and, through them, to a medievalization of our living environment.
Now is the time for both Kosova and Serbia, as independent nations, to embark upon the road to integration into the structures of the European Union and NATO. This is the common future for all the countries of the region. Our peoples want to travel freely, to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities enjoyed by those already part of the European Union. We aspire to the democratic values and legal norms embodied in the European Union, and are committed to the detailed, practical work to incorporate them into our laws and institutions. We know that this is a long, tough journey with a lot of hard work, but we are committed to this route. This ambition should be shared by all our neighbors. I say to all the neighbors, including Serbia: let us move forward along the path of Euro-Atlantic integrations.
I would like to assure you once more that the future Kosovar state will provide for the fullest range of protections, both constitutional and institutional, to ensure the rule of law and protection of rights of all people: the overwhelming Albanian majority, the Serb community, as well as other minority communities.
Independence for Kosova and its recognition as a sovereign nation means peace and stability in the entire region. Independence means, at the bottom line, resolution of the major unresolved issue in Southeastern Europe. Independence for Kosova means opening up the prospects for Euro-Atlantic integrations, not only to Kosova but also to other countries of the Western Balkans. As an independent nation, we will commit ourselves especially to cooperating with all our neighbors and countries of the wider region.
We have made it crystal clear that we have no claim or desire for the territory of others, any more than we would tolerate any claim on our own territory. After all, Kosova has strongly supported the guiding principles of the Contact Group adopted at the end of January 2006.
Kosova looks forward to the day when it can exercise its right to seek membership in all the international institutions and organizations, including the United Nations Organization.
Your Excellency, President of the Council
Your Excellencies, Members of the Council
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the end of this long and complex process, I avail myself of the opportunity – on behalf of the Unity Team and the people of Kosova – to express our gratitude to President Ahtisaari and UNOSEK, for their immense work during the process of negotiations, which has been crowned with what we are today calling President Ahtisaari’s plan for the definition of the political status of my country, Kosova.
This plan creates a unique opportunity for the future of Kosova, and of our region. This opportunity can only become real if the final status process results in an independent state of Kosova.
Your Excellencies, Members of the Security Council,
Speaking on behalf of the people of Kosova, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you at this critical juncture for Kosova. We are grateful to you for the work you have done in the Security Council, and in the United Nations as a whole, to help our country, which back in June 1999 had just emerged from a destructive war imposed by Milosevic’s Serbia.
The people of Kosova are confident that you will make the right decision to create a secure, safe and prosperous future for Kosova and all its people.
Thank you for your attention!