[kcc-news] Albright Remarks to Kosovar Albanians at Peace Conference (fwd)

[Kosova Crisis Center News and Information]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> READ  &  DISTRIBUTE FURTHER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

---------------------------------------------------------------------
   Kosova Crisis Center (KCC) News Network: http://www.alb-net.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Kosovapress                     http://www.kosovapress.com/
  Kosova Information Center       http://www.kosova.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------

***********************************************************
        KOSOVO - Official U.S. Government Documents
For more information regarding the latest policy statements
and other materials related to the Kosovo crisis, visit
http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/

***********************************************************

14 September 1999

Transcript: Albright Remarks to Kosovar Albanians at State Dept. Sept. 14

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says almost 800,000 Kosovar
Albanian refugees have returned to their homes.

In remarks September 14 in the State Department's Ben Franklin Room to
Kosovar Albanians who are in the Washington area attending a U.S.
Institute of Peace Conference at Lansdowne, Virginia, she said that
"UNMIK and KFOR are revising upward their estimates of Serbs and other
minorities choosing to remain in Kosovo."

"We hope many more will be able to return," she said.

Following is the transcript, as delivered:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

September 14, 1999

As Delivered

REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT TO KOSOVAR
ALBANIANS AT U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE CONFERENCE

WASHINGTON, DC

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much, Chet. Chet and I were
colleagues for a long time at Georgetown University and it's very nice
to be colleagues in this enterprise also.

Good morning to everybody and I'm so very, very pleased to be able to
welcome you to the Department of State. As you may know, I have just
come back from a rather long trip to the Middle East and to Asia and I
came back especially early because I did not want to miss the chance
to meet with all of you and to talk to you - the mothers and fathers
of a democratic Kosovo. I thank you all for changing your schedule to
make my participation possible.

And I also want to thank Dick Solomon and the United States Institute
of Peace for organizing this conference -- and for your dedication to
the cause of peace in Kosovo, throughout the Balkans, and around the
world.

I want to congratulate Vjosa Dobruna, Xheraldina Vula, Muhamet
Mustafa, and everyone -- every one of you -- for the encouraging
reports you have just presented. After all that has happened, there is
no better feeling than to see the people of Kosovo at peace, hard at
work, and planning for the future of what will always be your rightful
home.

I think it really is quite appropriate that you should have had your
meeting in Virginia - a state which for all Americans is deeply
identified with the creation of an American democracy and so it's very
nice that you met at Lansdowne. I'm only sorry that I wasn't here so
that you could meet at my farm so that this could be called the
Hillsborough declaration.

You have heard new voices and different views. And with the Lansdowne
Declaration you have drafted, you have taken responsibility for
building Kosovo's institutions -- and with them, a better future.

What is more, I see that you have achieved a new appreciation for the
importance of women's full participation in political life -- and I
understand that several wives in Pristina are going to be pleasantly
surprised when their newly-enlightened husbands return.

You have done an inspiring job at Lansdowne of bridging differences
and creating the common ground upon which a democratic Kosovo may be
built. And already, you have accomplished much in Kosovo as well.

Almost 800,000 Kosovar Albanian refugees have returned to their homes.
UNMIK and KFOR are revising upward their estimates of Serbs and other
minorities choosing to remain in Kosovo. We hope many more will be
able to return. Great progress has been made toward rebuilding homes
and preparing for the winter.

The economy is rapidly reviving, as factories reopen and new
businesses appear daily.

Schools have opened, and ethnic Albanian children are receiving the
public Albanian-language education they were so long denied.

Judges and prosecutors appointed by the UN Mission in Kosovo have
begun to hear cases, laying the foundation for a system of justice
administered for Kosovars by Kosovars. The Kosovar Police Academy
opened last week with its first class of 168 students.

And Kosovo's independent media are vigorous and expanding, thanks in
no small part to the efforts of many in this room.

This remarkable progress is a testament to the determination of the
people of Kosovo to build lives better than what they have known
before - and to the desire of the international community to support
all of you in doing that.

After months of violence, ten years of Belgrade's repression, and more
than fifty years of Communist centralization, it would be wrong and
foolish to expect one summer to cure all of Kosovo's troubles and
problems. I believe that most Kosovars are trying, as fast as you can,
to tackle their difficulties honestly. In short, I believe in you.

But after all that the people of Kosovo have suffered and lost, they
-- and you -- should not accept anything less than true democracy and
lasting peace. And neither democracy nor peace is sustainable without
respect for human rights. If everyone is not safe in Kosovo,
ultimately no one will be safe; and if all are not equal under the
law, ultimately no one will be able to count on the law for
protection.

And that is why, as your friend, I will say plainly that you must
combat the temptations of revenge, corruption and criminality.
Evidence of unchecked criminality would lose you the support of the
international community, and the trust of your people.

And you must do everything you can to prevent the killing, terrorizing
and expulsion of Serbs and other minorities. Acts of terror harm your
own interests. They discourage international humanitarian support and
investment, and they give aid and comfort to your enemies. They are
seen by some to validate Milosevic's claim that Serbs cannot be safe
where ethnic Albanians have power. And by teaching Kosovo's children
to hate, they prepare not peace, but discord.

Already, some in the international community have concluded that you
cannot build a peaceful, multi-ethnic democracy. And they expect you
to fail -- and, as Senator Dole told you, they are waiting to be
proven right. You have heard the stories. You have been described as
prisoners of Balkan history, interested only in doing to the Serbs
what they have already done to you.

I can't tell you how to feel. No one can. But I hope and believe that
you will aim higher and achieve more than the cynics and bigots
expect.

And I pledge that the United States will stand with you in those
efforts. Today I can announce three steps the United States is taking
to do our part to support peace, democracy and renewal in Kosovo.

First, after consultations with Congress, the United States has
officially opened the U.S. Office in Pristina, to represent American
interests and serve as a platform for all our efforts in Kosovo. The
head of the office, Larry Rossin, is a distinguished Foreign Service
Officer -- and he is with us today. And we are all very grateful to
him and he's a great friend. Larry, thanks for already doing a great
job.

Second, we have begun consultations with Congress toward amending our
budget request for fiscal year 2000 -- which begins next month -- to
provide substantial additional support for Kosovo and Southeast
Europe. These new resources will promote Kosovo's democratic
development, including the holding of elections, the development of a
free media, and the rule of law. And they will help stand up a Kosovo
police force. And they will sustain our own commitment to KFOR.

Third, the United States will support the development of a new civil
emergency response organization -- the Kosovo Corps. The Kosovo Corps
will deal with floods, fires, land mines and unexploded munitions, as
well as assisting with Kosovo's reconstruction.

We expect that many members of the KLA will join the Kosovo Corps.
Others have joined the new Kosovo police. With other donors, the
United States will support programs for vocational training,
scholarships and other assistance for KLA veterans. Their energy,
skills and resources are needed to build the peace. It is vital that
the KLA carry out fully and faithfully its undertaking to demilitarize
by next Sunday, September 19.

Your courage sustained you through times of bitter suffering and
hardship. Your courage won you the support of NATO and many others
around the world. And now, your courage is needed to win the peace.

Over the past four days, you have shown not only courage, but also
initiative and wisdom.

You have taken the initiative to move Kosovo's political process
forward - by acknowledging problems with the transition and by
establishing a forum for political leaders to meet regularly in
Pristina. You have identified economic priorities and the need for
transparent and reliable economic structures. And you have already
built the foundations for a strong civil society, from a vibrant free
press to women's groups to the Mother Teresa Society.

As a former professor, I can tell you that there are as many different
ways to run a democracy as there are democracies; and as a long-time
resident of one, I can tell you that they are always and everywhere a
work in progress.

As someone whose family fled Central Europe in search of freedom, I
can tell you that your institutions must be strong enough to protect
the twin foundations of democracy -- individual liberties and the rule
of law.

And as someone who believes in you, I can tell you that your work will
put you on track toward a Kosovo that will be admired for the justice
it extends to all its people, not only some; for the peace it
maintains by settling differences through laws, not force; and for the
freedom it preserves by choosing leaders with ballots, and not guns.

It will be my privilege to stand with you as you work to put the
vision you have melded here into practice -- and secure the blessings
of liberty for the people of Kosovo.

Thank you.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list send a message to majordomo at alb-net.com
In the body of the message include: UNSUBSCRIBE KCC-NEWS