Albanian PM: Kosovo idyllic place, Marty report fiction

Source: BETA

NEW YORK -- Albania’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha said in his speech at the UN General Assembly that Dick Marty’s report on human organ trafficking was a “fiction”.

Sali Berisha (FoNet)

He tried to explain that the crisis in northern Kosovo had occurred because criminals were resisting Priština's alleged attempt to introduce the rule of law.

The Albanian prime minister almost idyllically described the situation in Kosovo. He said that it was a place with the highest standards in protection of freedom and minority rights in the region, where the Serbian cultural heritage was more protected than ever.

“The biggest problem for Kosovo Serbs today is that tensions were caused and orchestrated with a nationalist aim. The only threat they are facing is the fact that they are means of goals from the bitter past that must never return,” Berisha said.

He claimed that Priština’s attempt to take over the checkpoints in northern Kosovo was in accordance with the agreements reached during the dialogue in Brussels, adding that the Priština authorities did not want anything else but to establish a constitutional order on its sovereign territory.

“The effort, however, caused a strong resistance of criminal groups and organized gangs,” he pointed out.

According to him, parallel structures financed by Belgrade have turned three Serb communities north of Kosovska Mitrovica into a safe haven for organized crime and all kinds of smuggling.

“Belgrade’s efforts to keep the parallel structures in those three communities show that it still believes in the change of borders in our region based on a failed and long outdated idea of ethnic clean territories of Greater Serbia,” Berisha said in his speech.

Pointing out that respect of the existing borders in the Balkans was a fundamental condition for permanent peace and stability, the Albanian president called on the UN members to recognize unilaterally declared independence of the southern Serbian province.

Kosovo, according to him, represents a significant factor of peace, stability and cooperation in the region.

Berisha said that Marty’s report on human organ trafficking represented an attempt to draw the attention from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was not against the international law.

He stressed that the report reminded him of Agatha Christie’s novels and that it was in fact a copy of Serbian War Crime Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević’s report.

“The report is fiction and its only purpose is to divert attention from the International Court of Justice's decision in favor of Kosovo's independence,“ the Albanian official stressed.

He confirmed, however, that Albania had officially called on EULEX to conduct the human organ trade investigation in its territory as well.