Speech by President Sali Berisha before the North Atlantic Council Honorable Dean of the North Atlantic Council, Honorable Ambassadors, I take this opportunity to express my great appreciation for the vital role NATO has played as the military organization of the democratic countries of Europe and North America in ensuring peace and democracy. At the same time, NATO has also been a powerful shield for ensuring the development of democratic values in Eastern Europe, which led to the destruction of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall regime. The fall of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe made it necessary to reshape international organizations and institutions, particularly NATO. This organization has become a model for reform for all individuals and peoples who believed in democracy throughout half a century of miserable suffering and who, calm and secure as you are, wish to develop the universal democratic values on which your societies are built. Your Excellencies, During half a century, many things have divided people in the West and the East, but together, perhaps even beyond our expectations, we have experienced a time of great change and upheaval. In our foreign policy, we have sought and continue to seek to overcome as quickly as possible the consequences of deep isolation and to begin the process of integrating the country into Europe. For these reasons, we have greatly expanded cooperation with all your democratic countries and with other countries in the region; we are observers at the Council of Europe and in other European and international forums. Albania will scrupulously honor all agreements it has signed, thereby affirming its European identity. It is well known that every dictatorship is first and foremost a military society—and not one organized to defend the country, but to defend the dictatorship and the dictator. To this end, despite the difficult situation in the Balkans, we began a reform that will be accompanied by a radical change in the country’s defense strategy, a reduction in the size of the army, an improvement in its quality, and the establishment of cooperation with the armies of neighboring countries and NATO countries. Mr. Secretary General, Since their establishment, the democratic forces in Albania have attached extraordinary importance to Albania’s cooperation with NATO. For this reason, we are pleased to present Albania’s application for membership. I take this opportunity to assure you that, for a long time, Albanians have regarded NATO as their Albanian ally and powerful protector, however paradoxical that may seem. From the beginning of the 1960s, Albania was the only country to break away from the Warsaw Pact. The communist propaganda of Albania at that time portrayed the alliances as great dangers to Albania. But Albanians never believed this. At the time, we did indeed believe that the aggressive Warsaw Pact might attack Albania to realize its imperial ambitions. But we knew that NATO was what prevented it from doing so. Thus, when we founded the Democratic Party, we did not need to be persuaded of the value of the Atlantic Alliance. That is why membership in NATO was one of its main objectives from the moment it was formed. No other Eastern opposition acted this way. This was not a partisan political position, but the wish of the Albanian people, and I hope that, because of this, Albanians should be treated differently from other peoples. On the other hand, allow me to recall here that Albania has never posed a serious threat to NATO member countries. Albania’s membership would give the Alliance a small geographical dimension, but one of strategic importance. I hope and believe that NATO members will consider and assess these factors. Meanwhile, Mr. Chairman, we are encouraged by the cooperation and understanding already established between Albania and NATO. In this respect, I would consider Albania’s admission to the North Atlantic Cooperation Council very important. I would also consider significant the meeting we had in Munich with Secretary General Mr. Wörner several months ago, the visit to Tirana by the head of the Political Department, and the visit by the other delegation, as well as the visit of the Chief of the General Staff of Albania to NATO Headquarters and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Stuttgart. Equally important to our relations is the development of cooperation between the Albanian Government and NATO in the field, including the cooperation of our fleets in Albanian territorial waters to enforce the UN embargo on Bosnia. I hope and believe that this visit of mine, your forthcoming visit to Albania, and that of the NATO Chief of Staff will make Albania’s full membership in the North Atlantic Alliance possible. Ladies and Gentlemen, For a few minutes I would like to draw your attention to the tragic events in the former Yugoslavia. What is happening every day in that country is the greatest tragedy Europe has experienced since the Second World War. Serbian aggressors are carrying out the deliberate extermination of the Bosnian nation through massacres, concentration camps, systematic rape, mutilations, and so on—things that our peoples will not tolerate. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the capital Sarajevo, will be one and, oh… this, brothers, for those who value peace and for those who desire it. Further, let me recall a great problem for all of us, which makes victory in such a war difficult and, so far, uncertain. This city is becoming a “black hole” in the European balance. (Continued on page 2)

At around 10:30, the presidential plane carrying the President of the Italian Republic, Skalfaro, landed at Rinas Airport. He was accompanied by Italian Foreign Minister Colombo. In keeping with Albanian traditions of hospitality, the guest from Italy was welcomed by the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Sali Berisha, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Alfred Serreqi. Also present at the airport were the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Arbnori, the Prime Minister of the Republic, Mr. Meksi, members of parliament, and members of the government. The heads of the diplomatic corps accredited in our country were also present, as were the commander and officers of Operation “Pelikan.” After the commander of the honor guard assembled in tribute to President Skalfaro had presented the troops, the national anthems of Italy and Albania were played. Before departing the airport for the Presidency, and speaking about President Skalfaro’s visit, the Albanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Serreqi, said: “The visit of the President of Italy, Mr. Skalfaro, demonstrates that Albanian-Italian bilateral relations have now reached a high level and are developing normally. These relations are not confined to the framework of mutually beneficial bilateral ties; they also have a European dimension.” Italy is a point of reference for us, helping and accelerating our integration into Europe. At the same time, this visit expresses the fact that Albania is orienting itself toward Europe not only because it is geographically situated in Europe and has a European culture, but also because this is a legitimate aspiration that is now on the way to being realized. Along the road to Tirana, thousands of citizens lined both sides of the route to greet the long motorcade. At 11:15, Italian President Skalfaro and President Berisha began their talks, which lasted about an hour. At 12:15, Foreign Ministers Colombo and Serreqi signed two agreements, on air transport and the continental shelf. We asked the Minister of Transport, Mr. Bitincka, for his views on these agreements. He said: “The agreement signed today between our two governments concerns civil air transport. This agreement will promote relations between the two countries. As a result of the work carried out by specialists on both sides, this agreement was reached, and it will serve the interests…” …of further strengthening relations in the field of civil aviation. More specifically, as a result, the number of routes operating between the two countries will increase. Connections will also open to other destinations that did not exist until now, such as Tirana–Milan or Tirana–Turin. This agreement will also make things easier for Albanian enterprises such as Albtransport and Albania Airlines. President Skalfaro and President Berisha attended the signing of the agreement. After the agreement was signed, Italian President Skalfaro said: “This is not merely an agreement between two friendly governments, but, as I also said earlier at the meeting between the delegations, it is an agreement between two friendly countries and peoples. That seems to me the most positive and most solemn thing.” The delegations then set off for the Albanian Parliament. At Parliament, President Skalfaro was welcomed by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori. The Italian President’s entrance into the parliamentary chamber was greeted with applause from the members of parliament, who had risen to their feet. After introducing this distinguished figure, Mr. Arbnori gave the floor to President Skalfaro.

— Presidents Skalfaro and Berisha attend — At around 1:00 p.m., President Skalfaro and Berisha attended the ceremony naming the square in front of the national “Qemal Stafa” stadium “Italy” Square. The Mayor of Tirana, Mr. Sali Kelmendi, delivered the address for the occasion. Italian President Skalfaro and Albanian President Berisha then offered their greetings. PRESIDENT SKALFARO: “I want to thank you for your warm and heartfelt hospitality. First of all, I want to say that I am moved that this very beautiful square is being given the name of my country. The Mayor was right to say that dictatorships cannot know friendship. Dictatorships usually forge alliances in order to attack others. Democracies have a duty to promote brotherhood.” PRESIDENT BERISHA: “Mr. President, I and all Albanians, all the citizens of Tirana, are very happy that today we are naming this square after Italy, a country with which we have had strong ties for centuries and millennia. Today we are opening a new page in the friendly relations between our two countries. But there is no doubt that we are deeply honored…” promote brotherhood. Among other things, this square is bordered by the stadium, and sport should be another expression of brotherhood. True sport is that which helps the one who has won celebrate alongside the one who has lost; in other words, it helps ensure that others are not belittled, and that space is made for them. The wish conveyed by the name of Italy that you are giving this square is that the relationship between our two peoples may serve human values and life, and serve peace. Thank you all. Tirana, are very happy today that we have named opening a new page in our friendly and brotherly relations. that you, Mr. President, are here for the inauguration today. Albanians know well that Mr. Oskar Luixhi Skalfaro, with a long political career, has an equally brilliant record as a citizen, in the values he embodies as a citizen and a person, as well as those of a politician. You can see, Mr. President, that this historic day is a warm one. It is also an expression of the warmth, friendship, and heartfelt respect that Albanians have formed for your people. Thank you very much.”

Mr. Skalfaro’s speech in the Albanian Parliament “Mr. Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, members of parliament, ladies and gentlemen attending this Assembly—and, if you will permit me, in keeping with a 46-year habit as a parliamentarian, dear colleagues. A greeting to you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for the honor of speaking before your Parliament. I have been a member of the Italian Parliament for 27 years, and together with the Foreign Minister Colombo, who is present here, we are among the few in Italy who, having taken part in the Constituent Assembly that signed the Constitution of the Italian Republic, are still serving democracy and freedom. This is a great honor for each of us, and therefore I feel particular emotion as I offer you my thanks and greetings, especially as I bow before the parliamentary institution. The parliamentary institution is the highest expression of freedom and democracy and, for that reason, of human rights. In our constitution, these are called inviolable human rights. I have always believed in the Parliament of which I have had the honor to be a member; not only do I believe in Parliament, I deeply love it. So much so that, if I may make a personal comparison, when I was elected President of the Republic I entered through the door of the Presidency and left the chamber knowing I would not be able to enter it again, because during a session even the President of the Republic cannot enter. Amid the protocols, I truly felt pain and sorrow. I believe in Parliament and love it. And since I believe in and love the Parliament of my country, allow me to say that I also believe in and love your Parliament. I bow before Parliament. Here lies the prestige of the [unclear]; here is the defense of fundamental rights; here is the first bulwark protecting democracy and freedom. It is no coincidence that the first institution a dictatorship attacks is Parliament, because a dictatorship is troubled by a free person who… …thinks freely and expresses his thoughts freely, while fully respecting the opinions of others. We have often been taught that one lives for freedom and may die for freedom. But first for the freedom of others, and then for one’s own freedom. The fall of the Soviet empire in 1989 found on this soil an unbelievable last resistance that lasted until February 1991. This is a point that must not be forgotten, because it shows just how far the dictatorial and inhuman concept had tried to penetrate the minds and consciences of your people. For this reason I said to your President of the Republic, whom I greet again with particular devotion and esteem, in front of all of you, that in Italy—and certainly I myself, as I speak to you—we have been astonished by the giant strides you have made in one year and ten months. It must have taken a miracle to bring about, and an instinctive capacity to be free, an ability to work, and your courage in affirming justice, freedom, and democracy. And after naming people who are much richer and greater, the truest and most moving bond that connects people to one another—allow me, not so much as President of… (Continued on page 4) great change and upheaval. The collapse of dictatorships in Europe, except in Serbia, is a great event for all humanity. The changes have indeed been immense; perhaps their speed has been the most extraordinary aspect. Who could have imagined three or four years ago that the head of the Albanian state would speak at NATO? That is why today I am very happy to address you as representatives of a reborn Albania. My country is building a society on the universal values and principles on which all your democratic societies and states have been built—a society founded on respect for the fundamental freedoms and rights of the individual and on the rule of law. Mr. Chairman, As you know, yesterday’s Albania was Enver Hoxha’s laboratory for experimenting with Stalin’s and Mao Zedong’s paranoid ideas. His dictatorship locked the country into the deepest isolation and filled it with bunkers, which were nothing other than a means of developing and sustaining the paranoid psychology of isolation and encirclement. Yet despite this, the Albanians, with courage and wisdom, left this bitter past behind. Under conditions of profound isolation, they managed in 1990 to establish two parties, including the first opposition party, the Democratic Party. We then endured a very difficult and, in many respects, devastating transition: killings by persecutors, persecution, hunger, and illnesses as a consequence of the years [unclear]. Nevertheless, their faith in a democratic future continued to grow. In the March 22 elections, the Democratic Party won a majority in Parliament, while the opposition won around two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, with approximately 72 percent of the votes. This victory, which to my knowledge has no parallel in the Eastern Balkans, expressed above all the great will of the Albanian people and their determination to develop—or to establish—Albanian society on the universal foundations and principles of democratic societies. The authorities and government that emerged from the March 22 elections inherited a country in chaos and anarchy, with a collapsed economy and institutions brought to a standstill. To address this, they committed themselves to political, economic, and institutional reform as the solution. In less than eight months, we have made a firm and encouraging start. The country and public life have thus restored pluralism, and crime has been substantially reduced. In the economic sphere, a considerable portion [unclear]; following the signing of an agreement with the IMF, a stand-by arrangement was secured; after a 40 percent decline, inflation was liberalized to 90 percent; land privatization reached 80 percent; production increased, and slight growth began. It is very important to emphasize that the banking system and the path toward the country’s recovery are more advanced than in any other Eastern country. It seems that the hardships the Albanians suffered most have made them value the achievements of democracy even more highly.

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