Remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary, Stuart Jones at the Chief of Missions Conference, Tirana Albania (October 29, 2008)

President Topi, PM Berisha, FM Basha, fellow members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.  It is an honor to be with you here today. 
I see some friends in this audience.  Ambassador Alexander Sallabanda is a powerful presence in Washington, DC, and a valued colleague.  Ambassador Neritani, we have not met but your reputation in New York has traveled to Washington.  Thank you for being here today.    
I last visited Tirana in 1993.  Much has changed.  The progress is visible; yours is a tremendous achievement.    Today, We all see a country that is modernizing, reforming and realizing the dream of taking its proud and rightful place as a free member of democratic Europe.
Ambassador Sallabanda and I attended a very special event last Friday at the White House.  I wish you could all have been there.  President Bush signed the U.S. ratification for the amendment of the NATO Treaty, welcoming Albania and Croatia in the NATO Alliance.  There were 500 people in the room, including many Albanian Americans.  Of course, Ambassador Sallabanda was on stage with the President and Secretary General Hoop de Scheffer.   The mood in the room was joyous. 
President Bush said:  “The invitation to join NATO is recognition of the difficult reforms these countries have undertaken on the path to prosperity and peace. In return, NATO membership offers the promise of security and stability. The United States and our NATO allies will stand united in defense of our fellow members. Once Albania and Croatia formally join NATO, their people can know: If any nation threatens their security, every member of our Alliance will be at their side.
President Bush then said:  The road of reform does not end with acceptance into NATO. Every member of the Alliance has a responsibility to enhance, promote, and defend the cause of democracy. I'm confident that Albania and Croatia will deliver on their commitments to strengthen their democratic institutions and free market systems.”
The United States is proud to support Albania’s NATO membership.  I think it is fair to say that we have been your strongest supporter.  But this, again, is your achievement.  Albania has proven over and over that it is a reliable security partner.  We are grateful for your contribution in Afghanistan.  Your troops in Herat and Kabul are giving hope and stability to people of Afghanistan and strengthening our Alliance.      
Membership in the Alliance has brought and will bring significant benefits to Albania.   Many of these benefits you already know:  resources, interoperability and NATO standards.   But the reforms you have undertaken to gain entry into the Alliance will also create significant economic and political opportunities for the Albanian people.  As a result of your reforms, Albania is a better destination for trade and foreign investment.  It is a better place to do business.   
It is no coincidence that, in the same year that you clinched NATO membership, the World Bank graded Albania as the second best economic reforming nation in the world.    I am sure all of you Ambassadors keep that report close at hand.  On the day it was issued, Foreign Minister Basha happened to be in Washington and he brought a copy to my boss, Assistant Secretary Dan Fried.  It is still on his coffee table in his office and whenever Dan has visitors from this region, he takes joy in showing them this report.   
Your NATO membership also brings real benefits for South Eastern Europe.  President Bush said last Friday: “Albania’s and Croatia’s entry into NATO is an historic step for the Balkans.  In the space of a single decade, this region has transformed from a land consumed by war to a contributor to international peace and stability.  America looks forward to the day when the ranks of NATO include all the nations in the Balkans – including Macedonia.”
The United States appreciates Albania’s efforts to promote regional security cooperation.  You have expanded the Adriatic Charter to include Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  We also welcome your leadership in SEDM and by hosting the Black Sea forum last week. 
II.  We also commend your leadership on Kosovo.   As someone who is new to the portfolio, I am deeply impressed by what has been achieved in the past several months.    This represents the triumph of my predecessors, Rosemary DiCarlo and Christopher Hoh, our European partners and many people in this room.  Clearly many obstacles remain but look at what has been accomplished:  Fifty-one countries have recognized Kosovo.  I expect two dozen more before the International Court of Justice hands down its advisory opinion on Kosovo’s sovereignty. 
At the July 11 donor conference, a broad cross-section of donors pledged over $1.9 billion for Kosovo’s economic development.  Kosovo’s new constitution came into effective on June 15.  The new parliament has passed 41 pieces of new legislation to implement Ahtisaari – that is an extraordinary record.  More than fifty state enterprises have been privatized. 
Recognizing the new situation on the ground in his July report, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon ordered the reconfiguration of UNMIK.  I anticipate that the European Rule of Law Mission -- EULEX -- will be fully deployed throughout Kosovo by the end of the year.  And I anticipate that this deployment will have the blessing of Belgrade. 
NATO and KFOR are assisting with the stand-down of the Kosovo Protection Corps and stand-up of a modern, civil-military affairs-oriented, NATO interoperable Kosovo Security Force and civilian ministry.  It is significant that there have been no serious incidents of ethnic violence since independence.  
Recognizing this success, we need to move beyond politics in Kosovo and focus like a laser now on the economy.   The world’s newest republic is also Europe’s poorest.    Again, I am pleased to recognize Albania’s contribution by connecting Kosovo to the sea with the Durres-Kukes Highway.  This will play a major part in Kosovo’s economic development.     
The United States will spend $127m in 2009 in Kosovo on economic development with programs focusing on energy and finance.  The World Bank and IMF are also doing their share.  But we need to generate economic activity in Kosovo with immediate impact.  Albanian business people are best positioned to create the needed jolt.  Albanian-American business interests have been at the center of the privatization movement in Kosovo.  We plan to work with them to bring a trade mission to Pristina and also other major cities in the spring.     
III.   Taking a step back, I would like to talk a bit about the region as a whole.  The United States’ vision and the vision of our European allies is a South East Europe fully integrated into Euro-Atlantic institutions; this is the path to a prosperous Europe, whole, free and at peace.  We have real challenges ahead.  
To achieve our shared goal, Macedonia and Greece must reach agreement on the name so that Macedonia can enter NATO and later the EU.  We fully support the UN negotiation process and urge both sides to work with the Secretary General’s special negotiator to find a solution as soon as possible.  This will require real statesmanship.  We are losing valuable time.
We are also concerned by recent developments in Bosnia.  The United States and its allies have invested enormous resources in achieving peace and stability in that country.  We support the vision of the Dayton peace accords:  three ethnic peoples and two federal entities cooperating in a constructive manner in a single state moving towards Euro-Atlantic institutions.  This is the right path forward for Bosnia.  Anything else is the wrong path.  Polarization will delay the march towards Europe and postpone the aspiration of the Bosnian people.      
My government also looks forward to putting our differences with Serbia behind us and achieving warm collaborative relations.  Serbia has a unique role to play.  It can be the engine for regional economic growth.  It has the highest foreign investment it has the most diverse foreign investment in the region.  And we are encouraged by what the last two democratic elections have produced in Serbia.  This is a government we want to work with.       
  
It is awkward to be before you just two weeks before an election in my own country. This election will certainly bring change in both domestic and foreign policy.   Certainly there will be no change to the strong bilateral relationship between our two countries.   Both candidates have also made clear that we will continue to uphold and insist on Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law in our relationships.
Democracy requires more than free and fair elections.  Democracy needs a strong judiciary; it needs prosecutors free from political interference; it needs a parliament that faithfully protects the interests of the public and that checks and balances executive power.   Building these institutions is difficult and they require constant maintenance.  This is true in the United States, where people are wondering now why financial regulators did not force our leaders to control  fraud and excesses in the mortgage finance and credit default swap markets.  This mistake has caused serious pain in the United States and elsewhere.  Now we have to undertake our own process of financial reform. 
Both candidates also agree that an effective foreign policy begins at home, and only by ensuring adherence to the highest standards of democratic governance domestically can the United States and Albania effectively promote wider stability and prosperity in the region. 
Thank you for time today.