PRESS CONFERENCE BY ALBANIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY ALBANIA

The continuation of the crisis in Kosova had created a tragic humanitarian situation in the whole Balkan region, Agim Nesho, Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

Genocide against the Albanian civilian population was in the making through the ethnic cleansing of Albanians by the criminal regime of Belgrade, he said. Throughout Kosova, Serb soldiers were murdering civilians en masse, burning villages and driving 500,000 Albanians out of their homes.

Thousands of Albanians had been killed, massacred or tortured by paramilitary units, army troops or special police forces, he said. The main target had been children, women and old people. A number of prominent Albanian Kosovar intellectuals had been executed, including Fehmi Agani, Vice- Chairman of the Democratic League of Kosova and a member of the Albanian delegation in the Rambouillet negotiations. Bajram Kelmendi, a famous human rights lawyer, had been murdered along with his two sons. Today, information had been received that a great Albanian writer, Kim Mehmeti, had been executed, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper Koha Ditore. In the last days, the Albanians of Kosova had been leaving the area at a rate of 4,000 people per hour. In the last two days the number of refugees only in Albania had reached 100,000.

The Albanian Government had declared an emergency situation in the northern part of the country, he continued. The countries of the region were already facing a humanitarian catastrophe, the largest one since the Second World War. Albania strongly supported the intervention of the international community against Serbia to stop the genocide against the Albanians of Kosova. The Albanian Government appealed to the international community for assistance to the Albanian refugees from Kosova.

Asked about his Government's capacity to deal with the influx of refugees and its impact on the internal security situation in Albania, the Ambassador said that his Government was doing its best to accommodate all the refugees coming into the country, but their number was too high. It would be very difficult for Albania to meet the challenge by itself, for its capacities were very limited. Today the Government of Albania had made an appeal for help to the Albanian community around the world, as well as the international community as a whole. Meanwhile, it was doing everything possible to provide the refugees with food, medical treatment and shelter. Today, it had become known from the news that the Governments of Germany and the Netherlands had expressed willingness to provide support for the refugees coming out of Kosova.

A correspondent commented that the mentioned number of refugees in Albania seemed to be significantly higher than the 60,000 previously reported, and asked about the source of today's information. Mr. Nesho replied that CNN had reported a number of about 100,000 people. Within the next two days, more than 200,000 people were expected only in Albania. There were also many refugees in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and in Montenegro.

Asked whether he was concerned that air strikes had only exacerbated the humanitarian crisis for refugees, he said that his country believed that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the only solution for the present situation. Albanian refugees passing the border into his country were reporting that the action by NATO had saved a lot of Albanians from being killed, tortured or executed in the street.

On the question of the effect of the talks between Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and President Slobodan Milosevic and the role of the Russian Federation in the crisis, the Ambassador said that for many years the Albanian Government had believed in the peaceful solution to the conflict. Real pressure had been put on both sides to find a solution in Rambouillet. The latest news had demonstrated that diplomacy had reached a new phase. It was very difficult for the Albanian side to accept autonomy when the other party was committing genocide, ethnic cleansing and trying to "re-engineer" Kosova. For centuries, Kosova had been Albanian land, which was unjustly divided by a decision in 1913. The only precedent to what was happening in Kosova now had been seen in Nazi concentration camps.

Was the Russian role helpful for his side? a correspondent asked. Mr. Nesho said that his country did believe that the international community could find a real solution, but what the Serbian regime had done to the Albanian people this time made it difficult to accept the same agreement that had been presented a week before.

To a question about NATO ground troops entering Kosova, he replied that it was one of possible solutions. However, that decision would have to come from NATO itself.

Regarding the composition of refugees coming into Albania, the Ambassador said that according to the reports he had received, most refugees were women, children and older people. According to the refugees, all the men captured in Kosova had been executed or put in concentration camps. Practically every family coming from Kosova had been affected, as their husbands or sons had been captured and taken to an unknown destination. Stories had also been told of the Serbian troops surrounding themselves by civilian population in defence from NATO attacks.

Asked about the accuracy of his information, Mr. Nesho said that it was "not so accurate", but Albania was gathering facts from the people who had

Albania Press Conference - 3 - 30 March 1999

suffered in the Kosova catastrophe. They were telling their stories to authorities and to the international community.

Recalling a previous reference to the fact that the Rambouillet agreement might no longer be sufficient, a correspondent asked what could be proposed in terms of a political settlement at this point. Mr. Nesho answered that the problem lay with Belgrade. It was very difficult to reach the same agreement when one party was not respecting the human rights of the other. The international community must contribute to a long-term peaceful agreement and resolve the Kosova problem once and for all.

Asked whether he was talking about independence, Mr. Nesho replied that his country would abide by any decision on the part of the international community "together with respecting the will of the Albanian Kosovars there".

To a question on what his country would be asking for in the coming weeks and months, he said that the Prime Minister of Albania had addressed the press today. He had said that Albania supported its brothers coming from Kosova and would give them all necessary help and support. His country had no dreams for "a bigger Albania". First of all, Albanians were asking the international community to find a long-term solution for the people of Kosova.

As some fighting had spilled across the borders, at what point would Albania feel obliged to get militarily involved, a correspondent asked. Mr. Nesho said that he did not see Albania entering a military conflict. Its strategy for the future was to participate in the lines of integration through Europe and to accept cooperation and assistance from NATO.

Asked if he thought that the Serbs were sending a message by killing several of the negotiators in Rambouillet, he responded that it was absolutely right. The Serbs were killing the negotiators at Rambouillet, which meant that the Serbian side was not accepting the agreement.

To a question on if he felt that the response to the crisis in Kosova had been the right one, Mr. Nesho replied that ethnic cleansing of the Albanians in Kosova had been going on continuously from the beginning of the century. Even NATO had been unable to stop the humanitarian catastrophe and defend the Albanians from genocide. He did believe that the Milosevic regime would continue its criminal actions.

Asked how far Albania was prepared to go to assist the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), he said that Albania was prepared to defend its brothers in Kosova morally, because they were fighting for their freedom and self-determination. At the same time, the Albanian Government always respected the decisions of the United Nations, as well as the norms of international law. Albania would neither interfere, nor provide arms for the Kosovars.

Albania Press Conference - 4 - 30 March 1999

To a question on whether Albania would seek to convince the international community to arm the KLA, he replied that if the international community decided that it was one of the ways to defend innocent population, his country had nothing against it.

To a further question on that matter, he replied that if the international community expressed a will to provide Kosovars with arms, it would be possible to find a way to realize such a decision, either through the Security Council or other regional organizations. Only one week before, the 12 to 3 vote in the Security Council had demonstrated "a kind of agreement" for the NATO intervention to prevent the genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Albanians.

Regarding the statement that part of the refugee exodus was not directly attributable to the actions of the Serbs on the ground, but rather to the verifiers warning the civilian population that they might be targeted in the fighting, he said that he had no reports to back such information.

On the issue of the outcome of the present crisis, the Ambassador said that he could not foresee the future, but he believed that NATO could resolve the situation once and forever.

Asked whether his country expected the United Nations to be doing more, Mr. Nesho replied that no cooperation was coming from the Belgrade side at this time. The fact was that the Belgrade regime was trying to spread the conflict, and to put pressure on the international community to re-evaluate its actions.

Regarding his expectations for the statement that Mr. Milosevic was expected to make on television today, Mr. Nesho said that he did not expect anything from Milosevic. What could be expected from the man who gave orders to execute innocent people? he said. In the last 14 months many resolutions had been passed in the Security Council stating that the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro was a real threat to peace and security in the region. Now the international community was witnessing massacres and atrocities against the Albanian people. He did not know if the international community could accept anything from that dictator.

Asked to provide the names and locations of the concentration camps, he said that there were many such sites, but with the blackout of information in Kosova today and the tactic of Milosevic to form the public opinion, he did not have any real facts. The way the Albanian people were isolated, it was very difficult to get any information. However, today the NATO spokesman had stated that the biggest cities of Kosova were undergoing ethnic cleansing, including Pristina.

* *** *