UNMIK/PR/896
Thursday, 19 December 2002

Ilir Meta Urges Kosovans Not to be Afraid of Standards

PRISTINA—UNMIK and Albania yesterday signed a letter of intent to start negotiations early next year on a Free Trade Agreement between Kosovo and Albania.

The letter of intent was signed between SRSG Michael Steiner and Albanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta on Wednesday in front of the media.

Speaking afterwards, Mr. Steiner and Mr. Meta also announced that they would jointly seek international financing to build a 400 KV transmission line to help exchange of energy between Kosovo and Albania.

Mr. Steiner also said that in their meeting they also discussed the issue of fight against crime and corruption and organized crime.

Mr. Meta expressed his “fullest support” for Mr. Steiner’s Mitrovica initiative. He said not only the Albanians should be able to return to their homes in North Mitrovica but also the Serbs and members of other ethnic communities should be able to return to their homes all over Kosovo freely and peacefully. This would, he said, further enhance the process of creating a democratic and European Kosovo.

Answering a question, Mr. Meta said there is a debate underway whether the issue of standards or the issue of determining the status of Kosovo has higher priority. “First of all, I would like to say that it is time not to be afraid of standards.” He said to integrate into the European Union, “it is time for all of us to ask for higher standards from ourselves so that we can achieve European Union standards…As for the issue of standards in Kosovo and the determination of its final status, I think that it will be more productive and more urgent to realize the basic standards that will help in creating conditions for the final determination of the status of Kosovo”, which should be achieved in cooperation with, understanding of and accepted by the international community, and not something done in confrontation with the international community, Mr. Meta stated.

Mr. Meta said that “it is also very important to aim at standards that enable the functioning of the entire institutional system that is being built here…and this is one of the reasons that I stressed the support of our government for Mr. Steiner’s plan for the integration of the town of Mitrovica in the entire institutional, economic and social system of Kosovo and urged for co-existence that would enable not only Albanians to return to their homes in north Mitrovica but also enable Kosovo Serbs to return freely and in peace to other parts of Kosovo, since without co-existence, the representative and efficient functioning of the institutions that are being built here will be difficult”.

The transcript of the press conference follows:

Transcript of the Joint Press Conference between SRSG Michael Steiner and Albanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta
Wednesday 18 Dec 2002

SRSG Michael Steiner:
Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to have here today the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta, who is, if I may say that, a true friend of Kosovo. I am also very happy that we have just signed the letter of intent to start negotiations very early next year on a Free Trade Agreement between Kosovo and Albania. I have informed Minister Jakupi who of course supports that fully. We have intended to do this for quite some time because we want to bring down the barriers in free trade with all the countries in the region and further than that.

Secondly, if I may say, I am very happy seeing that both in Albania as in Kosovo the situation of the supply of electricity is so important - and also difficult, as you know. And as we have energy production systems which can help each other – you know there is 90% hydro-electrical production in Albania, we have here in Kosovo 90% thermo-electrical production – we have both agreed to jointly address the international community in order to get help in financing the missing link we have between Albania and Kosovo, which is the 400 KV transmission line. This would make it possible that the mutual advantages we have of our different systems of electricity production can be used to the benefit of both Albania and Kosovo. So these were the concrete things.

A number of other concrete things, we have talked about, are the fight against crime and corruption and organized crime. We have talked about how to further enhance our economic relations and all the subjects which we have discussed in our continuous dialogue – you know that on the invitation of the Deputy PM, I had been in Tirana – we also talked about the situation concerning the border and the openings of the border.

Let me conclude and give the floor to the Foreign Minister. I must say in wrapping up, that I am extremely grateful for the support of Albania for the work and the approach of UNMIK and I think it is also fair to say that it is also in the interest of Kosovo that we have a very constructive policy of the Government of Albania both in the region but also in Europe and I am very happy that you are here and help us to get on with our work.
Thank you, Mr Foregin Minister.

DyPM & FM Ilir Meta:
I also am very happy to be in Kosovo today on this official visit at the invitation of the Chief Administrator Mr. Steiner. At the end of this year, we can say that the relations between Albanian and Kosovo have been very successful. I want to remind you that some important agreements have been signed during this entire period, especially during Mr. Steiner’s last visit to Tirana. Many obstacles in the free movement of citizens and at the same time in developing the economic and trade cooperation have been overcome. I think today’s event is very important for Kosovo and Albania. This letter of intent that we signed today to start at the beginning of the next year negotiations for free trade between Kosovo and Albania in order to sign the agreement next year, shows clearly that even the last obstacles for economic and trade cooperation are going down, and at the same time, it shows clearly that Albania, not only Albania but Kosovo also, is more and more intensively being included in the regional integration processes inspired especially by the Stability Pact. I also want to express my pleasure that I and the Chief Administrator Mr. Steiner agreed to ask jointly from the donors’ community the building, as soon as possible, of a 400 KV transmission line between Albania and Kosovo, which will help a lot in balancing the energy system, since it known that Albania produces its power mainly through hydro-electric system, whereas Kosovo uses the thermal system and, at the same time, both of them, Kosovo and Albania, have difficulties regarding electricity. On this occasion, I believe this will be an important step to further improve the integration of the system and the regional market for energy, a process that has successfully started in southeastern Europe.

I want to express my satisfaction with the strides that Kosovo has made during this period. I want to express the fullest support for UNMIK, for Chief Administrator Steiner and also for the elected institutions of Kosovo for the important steps made forward. I especially want to express once more our maximum appreciation for the efforts and the plan of Chief Administrator Steiner for integrating the town of Mitrovica and for all the efforts to increase co-existence between Albanians and Serbs which has to do with more efficiently functioning and more representative institutions established so far. We believe these processes will further increase Albanians’ efforts to work for co-existence not only with the Serb minority, but also with the other ethnic groups, just like we want and hope that the Serb minority responds with a greater will to be integrated in the new central and local institutions that have been established and are being consolidated in Kosovo. I think that the Albanians’ return to North Mitrovica, and, at the same time, the return of Serbs to other parts of Kosovo, the return of all the citizens of Kosovo regardless of their ethnicity to their homes in full freedom, peace and harmony with each other will be one of the most important achievements for further enhancement towards a democratic and European Kosovo. The last local election was another new achievement in the democratic process here. On this occasion I would like to assure Mr. Steiner, UNMIK and the other elected institutions of Kosovo of close cooperation of the Albanian Government to encouraging successfully and enhancing a democratic and European Kosovo, which should not be a potential concern for peace and stability in the region. On the contrary it should be a sustainable resource for peace, security and stability in our region, which is being integrated into the European Union.

Questions:

Q: I have a question for both of you. It has been three years since Kosovo emerged from the war. Have you talked about the final status of Kosovo? Do you consider there might be a delay in the final determination of this status? And a second question for Mr. Steiner: How do you judge the reestablishment of relations between Albania and Belgrade?

SRSG: Let me just say that the approach, contacts and talks between the Government of Albania and the Foreign Minister of Albania in a number of places in Europe and also at other places are constructive and are very helpful – I think – for the region, for the Balkans and also for Kosovo.
What concerns the final status, I am very happy that the Security Council of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Washington, the European Union, NATO, Albania and UNMIK all follow the same line. That means first you have to create the preconditions, first you have to create the standards, you have to fulfill the benchmarks, then the time is ripe to solve the final status.
Mr Foreign Minister…

DPM & FM: Regarding the debate that emerged whether the issue of standards or the issue of determining the status is a priority, first of all, I would like to say that it is time not to be afraid of standards. On the contrary, the time of integration into the European Union for all of us is exactly the time to ask for higher standards from ourselves so that we can achieve European Union standards. Albania is also at a stage where it is aiming at new standards in order to start not only the negotiations for the new agreement on stabilization and association, but also to take further steps towards its membership of the European Union, like it is time for new standards for all the countries that at different levels have the same objective–the membership of the European Union.
As for the issue of standards in Kosovo and the determination of its final status, I think that it will be more productive and more urgent to realize the basic standards that will help in creating conditions for the final determination of the status of Kosovo, which, it is very important, should be a status in cooperation with, understanding of and accepted by the international community, and not a status in confrontation with the international community, in order to achieve another major objective, which I believe Kosovo also has, to ensure its integration into the European Union and not its isolation from the integration processes in our entire region. It is also very important to aim at standards that enable the functioning of the entire institutional system that is being built here as a whole and not its partial functioning, and this one of the reasons that I stressed the support of our Government for Mr. Steiner’s plan for the integration of the town of Mitrovica in the entire institutional, economic and social system of Kosovo and the urging for co-existence that would enable not only Albanians to return to their homes in north Mitrovica but also enable Kosovo Serbs to return freely and in peace to the other part of Kosovo, since without co-existence, the efficient and representative functioning of the institutions that are being built here will be difficult.