Transcript of Press Conference of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeastern Europe (February 8, 2007)

Ambassador Ries: I would like to welcome all of you here today and to introduce to you the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South-East Europe and a good friend, Rosemary DiCarlo.

DAS DiCarlo: Thank you Ambassador Ries. I am very pleased to be back in Tirana. It has been a while. I am just coming back from Tallinn, where I attended a meeting of the Adriatic Charter and the Baltic Charter countries.

The focus of the meeting was one that I believe is of importance to the Albanian people. That is membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. We discussed Albania's aspirations to join NATO as well as the two other candidate countries, Croatia and Macedonia.

And I just want to reaffirm what my colleagues have said, what I know Ambassador Ries has said on many occasions: the United States supports the aspirations of Albania to join NATO. And that we are committed to assisting the Albanian people implement reforms necessary to be eligible for NATO membership.

We are committed because we think that membership in the Alliance will assist in bringing longterm stability in Southeastern Europe. NATO is much more than a military alliance; it is a political alliance. It is an Alliance of shared values.

We are working with many representatives of Albania to implement the reforms that will be needed, particularly in the area of rule of law, modernization of the police, and of course, in the conduct of free and fair elections.

We know that this is an important year for Albania, and we know it is an important year for the region as well.

I have come here also to talk about a number of issues, but two important issues: one of them is NATO and the other one is the final status for Kosovo.

The United States, along with our partners in the Contact Group and in Southeastern Europe, believe that the resolution of Kosovo's status is important to longterm stability in the region and to the region's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions.

Therefore, we strongly support the efforts of President Marhti Ahtisaari in resolving this issue. We believe that it has been eight years now that the people of Kosovo have lived under UN administration since it is time to have clarity for them and for the region, as a whole, regarding their future.

We are therefore encouraging the parties, both in Belgrade and Pristina, to engage constructively with President Ahtisaari in the final weeks of the status process. And we are very grateful for the role that Albania plays as well, serving as a moderating force in the Kosovo status issue.

As I said, we think this is an important year coming up for the region. It is a time when the entire region could move forward on the path to Europe, to the EU and to NATO. And we want to assure everyone in the region, and particularly in Albania, that you have the strong support of the United States.

I am very happy to take your questions.

News 24: To what extent does political stability in Albania affect the future of Kosovo?

DAS DiCarlo: Well, first of all, political stability in Albania is important for Albania. It is important for the economic development of Albania and for the well-being of all the citizens. It is also important for Albania's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Obviously, political stability in the entire region, as a whole, is important for Kosovo.

TVSH: Ms. DiCarlo, we will have local elections in seven days. Do you have any message for our politicians in terms of the elections' importance for Albania?

DAS DiCarlo: Of course, these are important elections. Elections are always important in a democratic society. It is extremely important that everyone go out and vote. And it is important that the elections be conducted in a free and fair manner. I am very pleased to say that all of the leaders that I spoke with in the last day and a half have committed to free and fair elections and have stressed the importance of these elections, of free and fair elections, to the further development of Albania.

Vizion+:  How do you assess Albania’s step toward NATO integration? And is the contribution of Albanian troops to Afghanistan and Iraq and soon to Lebanon a way to earn USG support for Albania’s NATO integration?

DAS DiCarlo: First of all I want to make it very clear that the US is very grateful to the Albanian deployments overseas. We believe this is an indication of our shared values and friendship. Albania has done very very well and is an excellent partner. But as I mentioned NATO is more than a military Alliance, is a political alliance, an alliance of shared values. And NATO membership is based only on defense reforms and participation in international operations but also on political, economic reforms and political and economic development. Albania has done a lot over the last few years but there’s more work to be done. As you know, it is our hope that at the NATO summit in 2008, NATO will be in a position to invite new members. So we are working with the three NATO candidate countries on achieving the reforms that are needed to be eligible for NATO membership. There are many things that are important for NATO membership. One is the support of the population to enter this alliance and play a very important role in shaping the policies of that Alliance. And it is our understanding that the people of Albania want to work with the United States and Europe in such capacity. But as I said, there are some reforms that are needed: free and fair elections are important, rule of law issues, such as judiciary reform, modernization of the police, fight against organized crime, reducing corruption; also important is a consensus on major issues among all of the parties, of all the people. NATO is going to want to see that Albania has a reform program that is embraced by everybody. As I said, we are working, my colleagues here at the Embassy, many of my colleagues in Washington, my colleagues in NATO, Brussels, are working with various aspects of Albanian society, and the Albanian leadership, to make these reforms a reality. And we encourage you all to keep working in that direction so that we can see you as a partner, a full partner in the Alliance.

Vizion+: How does Department of State see business climate in Albania? Is it favorable for US investment? Does the breaking of contract with General Electric affect the U.S.-Albanian relations?

DAS DiCarlo: First of all, as you know, there are a number of American firms that are interested in investing in Albania, and I think as you continue reforms we are going to see many more. And I want to stress that business and business investment is a private matter and does not affect the US-Albanian bilateral relations.

Shqip: EU officials have stressed recently that the delay in reaching the electoral agreement has slowed Albania’s steps toward the Euro-Atlantic integration process. What do you think Albania should do to recuperate lost time?

 
DAS DiCarlo: First of all, I am very glad to see that an agreement was reached and was reached by consensus on the upcoming elections. As I said, this is an important issue, it is important to have consensus on major issues for the society; it is especially important now as you are moving along the path to further development and eventual membership in the Euro-Atlantic institutions. I was pleased to see the commitment of leaders to move forward to reach consensus on a range of issues, to understand the importance of a really consolidated view behind reforms; I think that keeping a common vision of Albania’s future and serious hard work on reforms are going to help all of the people of Albania; will make a difference regarding Euro-Atlantic integration.                     

AP: Question on Kosovo. It seems the parties have not moved from their stands on Kosovo despite the Ahtisaari package, which means Belgrade wants to preserve sovereignty over Kosovo and Pristina wants independence. Do you think this final phase of the process should result in a different stand from one of them? We have heard that there is also a fear of instability at least in Kosovo if there is no independence for them.

DAS DiCarlo: We understand the differences between the two sides, between the parties. President Ahtisaari tried to bridge the gap on a range of issues in the proposal that he presented to the parties last week. We think that his proposal is fair and balanced. We also firmly believe that he has conducted this process with integrity and he has the best interest of all sides. We think it is important, as I said earlier, for the parties to engage constructively in the coming weeks. W, along with other member of the Contact Group, have a few firm views on the outcome of the Kosovo status. We believe that the outcome must promote regional stability, must advance a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo, and must be acceptable to the people of Kosovo. We are hoping that President Atisaari can engage the parties over the next few weeks to resolve this issue so the entire region can move forward. We think it is very important to resolve the issue without delay.

VOA: Today Belgrade decided to take part in the negotiations, referring to statements by Mr. Solana. The decision comes after pressure from the EU Troika. It appears that the initial February 13 deadline will be passed. Do you think that after this change, there may be a solution, considering that Belgrade's position has not changed?

DAS DiCarlo: I have not read the latest news. I know President Ahtisaari is in New York this week. If Belgrade has agreed to participate, I think that is excellent. Our support is to the process, to President Ahtisaari, to the timetable that he has set. As I said, this process has been going now on for a little over a year and it time for all of the people in the region to have clarity.

DW: Solana, during his visit to Pristina, said that a delay of one week or ten days could be accepted for the beginning of negotiations and the leadership of Pristina is upset about this decision. What is the State Department's opinion about the moderating role of Tirana and the suggestion of the State Department, in this situation, for the Pristina leadership?

DAS DiCarlo: First of all, the United States supports the efforts of President Ahtisaari and the timeline that he has set. We are grateful for the role that Albania has played in this process, in encouraging tolerance and flexibility and the patience to pursue a UN-led process. Pristina, the leaders in Pristina, have engaged constructively in this process and we are counting on their continued constructive engagement. We think that this process led by President Ahtisaari is an important one. It was called for in UNSC Resolution 1244, and we want to see this process go toward a successful conclusion.

Top channel: Looking back on the NATO enlargement history toward Central and Eastern European countries and the fact you stressed several times that NATO is not just a military alliance, but an alliance of shared values; what is the correlation between NATO and European enlargement processes, as the EU has the capacity to make annual assessment reporters? If we see the progress of the Southeast Europe countries, is it a possibility that only Croatia will get an invitation in 2008?

DAS DiCarlo: Thank you for raising the issue of the Central European countries. We are very supportive of seeing Southeastern Europe enter NATO not just for the sake of entering NATO; we have seen the effect it has had on the countries of Central Europe. Not only was it a stimulus to achieve reforms that helped the entire society in these countries, but also we saw that the security and the partnership and the discussion of important issues and values that we share helped these countries' further development.  Many of the reforms that are important to NATO membership are also important for eventual membership in the European Union. I cannot speak for the EU, they do have some other eligibility requirements, but we think it is very important for the entire region to be members of both NATO and the EU. As far as the question of NATO membership particularly in 2008 and you raised the issue of Croatia, NATO membership is performance-based and each country is based on its individual performance. And at Riga in November the Alliance made some very important statements about future enlargement. And the statement of our leaders was the following: that “those countries that have met NATO’s performance-based requirements, will be eligible for NATO invitations,” hopefully at the next summit.

Thank you very much.