A level of pagan faith exists in every Albanian.

The Islamism in Albania is an Islam with a European face. As a rule it is a shallow Islamism. If you dig a little in every Albanian you can discover his Christian core.

“The religion of the Albanians is Albanism” (et citat fra 1800-tallet som Moisiu er enig i).

Today we are the sole country in Europe and elsewhere which confines on the greatest part of the foreign borders with Albanian population.

The Albanians and the Serbs in Kosova together with the other ethnicities are jointly working for six years towards building a democratic, multi-ethnic and European society. There have been obstacles, difficulties and problems, some of whom were incited also by states that interested to have a lack of stability and co-existence in Kosova, but time is proving that the interest on the final status and European future of Kosova has to do with every citizen of Kosova, regardless of the religious belief and nationality. In Prishtina, lately, the politicians and citizens of all religions participated in the beginning of the construction of the Great Catholic Cathedral. They undertook this act in sign of appreciation for their ancient Christian history and also in effort to demonstrate their full willingness for a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Kosova.

The peaceful religious pluralism has served as a unifying element among various peoples, families and groups in society.

INTERNATIONALE ORGANISATIONER m.v.

Opmærksomheden henledes på Economic Reconstruction and Development in South East Europe. Adressen er www.seerecon.org. Her kan man finde materiale om aktuelle møder og konferencer.

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FN

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VERDENSBANKEN, IMF M.FL.

Se under de enkelte lande / områder.

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OSCE, Europarådet

Se under de enkelte lande / områder.

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EU

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NATO

NATO’s Parlamentariske Forsamling holder plenarmøde i Kbh. Man drøfter bl.a. Kosovo/Kosóva. UM i Serbien-Montenegro skriver:

COPENHAGEN, November 14 (Beta) - The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Copenhagen, has abandoned a planned resolution on Kosovo, which prejudiced the outcome of status negotiations by calling for conditional independence for the province.

Instead, the 51st Annual Meeting of the Western alliance's Parliamentary Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for the continued application of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

The head of the Serbia-Montenegro delegation to the meeting, Aleksandar Pravdic, said that the new resolution insists that the talks on the eventual status of Kosovo must not be prejudiced. "All delegates at the NATO Assembly supported our demand that the resolution calling for conditional independence could nut stand, so the new resolution is acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and a call to governments for full support of the Euro-Atlantic integration of the region.

"It supports the implementation of standards, the established process of decentralization, protection of the rights of Serbs and other minorities and, of course, securing effective protection of the cultural and religious legacy," said Pravdic.

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ICTY - TRIBUNALET I HAAG

Verserende sager vedr. Kosovo: Anklageskrifter og udskrifter af retsmøderne kan findes på: http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/index-e.htm

ICTY vs Slobodan Milosevic, (IT-02-54)

ICTY vs Fatmir Limaj et al. (IT-03-66)

ICTY vs Ramush Haradinaj (IT-04-84)

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BALKAN LANDE, LANDE VED ØSTLIGE MIDDELHAV

BALKAN GENERELT



Udsnit af EU's Europakort 2004. [Udsnittet kan forstørres ved at klikke på det]. Kortet indgår i en præsentationsborchure, der kan downloades som pdf fra: http://europa.eu.int/comm/publications/booklets/eu_glance/20/da.pdf.

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KOSÓVA

Bynavne: Angives der to navne på samme lokalitet, er den Albanske nævnt først. Se oversigten på: http://bjoerna.dk/kosova/byer.htm ... Bynavne: Angives der to navne på samme lokalitet, er den Albanske nævnt først. Se oversigten på: http://bjoerna.dk/kosova/byer.htm ... Rapporter fra FNs Generalsekretær ... 040616 SG Kofi Annan udtaler at han agter at udpege Søren Jessen-Petersen som 5' SRSG. Søren Jessen-Petersen blev senere udpeget og tiltrådte i Kosóva 040816. ... 0308 Harri Holkeri tiltrådte som 4' SRSG. Fratrådt 0406 af helbredsmæssige grunde. ... 020214 Michael Steiner tiltrådte i Kosova som 3' SRSG og fratrådte i begyndelsen af 0307. ... En biografi over 2' SRSG Hans Hækkerup kan læses på Danske Politikere. En anmeldelse af hans bog »Kosovos mange ansigter« kan downloades fra: http://neva.hjem.wanadoo.dk/Haekkerup2.pdf (0,4 MB) ... Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government. ... Kosova's Regering. ... Webside vedr. 2004-valgene ... UNMIK Politiets oversigt over 2001 (artikler, billeder og statistik i pdf-format (fil'en er forholdsvis stor: 2,6 MB)) ... Kriminaliteten i 2002 - Oversigt kan downloades [klik på titlen]


Parlamentsvalget 2004 [Præsidenten - Ibrahim Rugóva - er valgt af Parlamentet, the Assembly], se: http://kosovoelections.org/eng/


Kosovo's/Kosóva's fremtid. Forhandlingerne:

SRSG mødes med den Kosóva Albanske Delegation. UNMIK skriver:

UNMIK/PR/1439 Thursday, 10 November 2005 SRSG hosts meeting of Team of Unity PRISTINA – SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen today hosted a meeting of the Team of Unity at his residence. Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, PDK leader Hashim Thaçi, ORA leader Veton Surroi, and Team Co-ordinator Blerim Shala attended the meeting. COMKFOR Lieutenant-General Giuseppe Valotto was also present. Earlier in the day, the SRSG met the team leader, President Ibrahim Rugova, separately.

The SRSG briefed his guests on the developments since the last Security Council meeting on Kosovo held on 24th October, in particular his recent meeting with the Contact Group in Washington and his two meetings with Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, who will shortly be formally appointed as the UN Special Envoy for Status Talks.

In the light of the imminent start of status talks, the SRSG once again underscored the importance of the unity of the team and he strongly urged the members to get ready and be prepared. “Kosovo is now facing an opportunity it cannot afford to miss. The fate of Kosovo is in your hands and you should demonstrate with your actions that you are worthy of your aspirations and the trust of the people,” the SRSG said.

The SRSG reminded the team that it is of the utmost importance to continue with further implementation of Standards during the status discussions, especially in those areas that relate to the minorities. The SRSG reiterated his appeal to the team to reach out to all communities and to civil society. In this regard, the SRSG informed the team that he would also brief the representatives of the Kosovo Serbs and other minorities next week.

The political leaders then gave their account of their preparations for the status talks process and exchanged views on the current situation. They agreed that they would approach this process as a team.


Præsident Rugóva ønsker at Vaclav Havel skal være 'Mediator' i Kosovo/Kosóva-forhandlingerne. SET skriver: »Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova told visiting Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek that he would like former Czech President Vaclav Havel to mediate the upcoming talks on the future status of the province. Paroubek is making a four-day trip to the Western Balkans to discuss a possible Czech role in the Kosovo process, among other issues.« ... Rugóva er nok ikke så sikker på at forhandlingerne vil få det ønskede resultat og ville benytte lejligheden til at øge sin og Albanernes indflydelse på processen.


Advarsel til Kosóva Albanerne. RFE og Makfax skriver:

The international Contact Group on the Balkans -- which comprises the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia -- warned the Kosova parliament not to pass a resolution unilaterally declaring independence, Prishtina dailies reported on 15 November.
>BR> In Belgrade, the Serbian parliament passed a resolution demanding that the upcoming talks on Kosova's final status recognize that Kosova is legally part of Serbia and do nothing to change frontiers in the region, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica obtained a broad consensus for the vote and spoke first of all with leaders of the opposition Serbian Radical Party and Socialist Party of Serbia about the 10-point measure.

In Prishtina, Kosova's Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi said that he is happy that Kosovars no longer need to pay attention to any resolutions coming from the Serbian government or parliament.

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Head of UNMIK Soren Jessen-Petersen urged Kosovo's Assembly to give up adopting a resolution on independence of Kosovo, adding that such a document is unacceptable for the international community.

"If the Assembly passes the announced resolution, it would be an unilateral decision. The Contact Group has already hinted that for the time being, such resolution would send a bad signal to the international community", said Petersen today in Urosevac.

According to him, the resolution confirming the will of the Kosovo's Albanians for independence "could serve only as a framework for the Kosovo's negotiating delegation, but cannot assume a qualification of institutional decision".

"If the resolution is adopted as a text framework of the Kosovo's negotiating team, the Assembly will play out its role of a democratic, functional and responsible institution", said Petersen, adding that any other solution would be unilateral and unacceptable for the international community.

Petersen's warning comes just one day before the scheduled session of the Kosovo's Assembly, whose agenda includes adoption of a resolution on independence of Kosovo.


UM Dr Condoleezza Rice har udsendt 'Religious Freedom Report'. Afsnittet om Serbien, Montenegro og Kosovo er aftrykt nedenfor.


Mod illegalt arbejde. OSCE skriver:

SCE Mission and Kosovo Ministry launch campaign to tackle illegal occupation

PRISTINA, 11 November 2005 - The OSCE Mission in Kosovo, together with Kosovo's Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry, today launched a multi-media public awareness campaign to tackle the issue of illegal occupation of property.

Calling for respect of property rights, the campaign emphasizes that illegal occupation is not a viable or legitimate solution to one's housing needs.

"It is widely recognized that there have been many challenges in the area of property rights and property ownership," said Henry McGowen, Director of the OSCE Mission's Department of Human Rights and Rule of Law, at the launch event.

"We are all very familiar with the reasons and history behind these issues but this campaign wants to focus on the next steps. The first step in resolving this problem is establishing the proper legal framework, as this issue affects all the people of Kosovo," he added.

Stressing the complexity of the issue of property rights, Ardian Gjini, the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning said, "These rights are not only a standard that Kosovo's people should meet in order to help the rule of law, but they are also important European and international standards to which Kosovo aspires."

The public at large will be made aware of the issues surrounding illegal occupation through television and radio programmes, as well as posters and stickers with the campaign slogan - 'Illegal occupation is not a solution' -placed inside municipal and other institutional buildings and near residential buildings.

Illegal occupation and use of residential and non-residential property is a widespread problem in Kosovo. The campaign primarily focuses on illegal occupation of residential property and its impact on human rights and rule of law principles.

The campaign also seeks to strengthen the understanding that property legislation will be fully implemented and that all property disputes will be resolved and judicial decisions implemented, while creating an understanding that future illegal occupation is not an option.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo, as the institution-building pillar of UNMiK, continues to support and develop Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government. To this end, the OSCE and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning co-chair the Standards Working Group on Property Rights - one of the eight 'Standards for Kosovo'.


Minoritetsgruppernes indtjening. Province of Kosovo - Income Generation and Community Development Projects for Minority Ethnic Groups Receive New Funding. IOM skriver:

IOM’s income generation and community development projects for minority ethnic groups in Kosovo has received new funding from the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR).

The 2 million euros funding will allow IOM to continue its efforts to improve the social and economic conditions of minority communities living in enclaves and in isolated areas throughout Kosovo by providing support for enterprise development in minority regions.

The funding will allow IOM to provide equipment, training and support to partners NGOs and individuals who seek to develop businesses that will generate employment and income.

Since its launch in November 2002, the programme has provided small grants of up to 10,000 euros to a total of 531 community and individual projects in northern and southwestern Kosovo, especially in the fields of education, agriculture and health.

One such project in Gracanica has provided computers and voice software to the Association of Blind People, a local NGO that provides computer training for the blind. Other IOM-funded projects have helped to extend the primary school in the municipality of Prishtina/Pristina and have provided an engineering school in Gracanica with metal processing equipment.

“The overall aim of the programme is to provide an improved community environment to encourage members of ethnic communities to remain in Kosovo,” says IOM’s Chief of Mission in Pristina, Enrico Ponziani. “IOM will continue to work with its partners to identify and provide sustainable assistance to minority communities and municipalities.”

For further information, contact

Bekim Ajdini
IOM Pristina
Tel +381 38 54 90 42
Email: info@iom.ipko.org


Ugerapport fra Dansk KFOR. Hærens Operative Kommando skriver (på http://www.hok.dk/):

VIP-besøg, koncert i lejren og operation Uge 45 ved DANBN/KFOR. Et velfærdsarrangement blev gennemført og både ”COR BUSTERS og DIE HERREN” fyrede den af i Rød Hal.

Af DANBN/KFOR 13

Bataljonen fik i starten af uge besøg af Chefen for Hærens Operative Kommando. En ny Ortodoks kirke i Mitrovica blev indviet, og der var udveksling af enheder samt operation i den sydlige del af ansvarsområdet. Jo, var en travl uge for bataljonen og dens enheder.

Militærpolitiet i aktion.

En del af militærpolitiets opgave består i at eskortere og beskytte prominente personer, ofte ”Very Important Person,” der besøger Kosovo. Mandag og tirsdag i den forløbne uge havde den danske bataljon besøg af chefen for Hærens Operative Kommando, generalmajor Poul Kiærskou.

Militærpolitiet stillede med i alt 7 mand til denne opgave og var ansvarlig for sikkerheden under eskortering til og fra lufthavnen og under eskorteringen i det danske ansvarsområde. Militærpolitiet var ligeledes ansvarlig for nærbeskyttelse af generalen, når kolonnen holdt stille og når han bevæger sig rundt i området, som ved besøget ved det danske Liaison Monitoring Team 4 i Skenderaj, hvorfra billedet stammer.

Militærpolitiet er årvågne i byen.

Udover VIP beskyttelsen, der krævede alt disponibelt militærpoliti, har militærpolitiet også deltaget i operationen Drenica Wide og forsøgt at fastholde vores normale framework operationer, så militærpolitiet ved den Danske Bataljon keder sig ikke i dagligdagen.

Indvielse af ny ortodoks kirke



En ny ortodoks kirke blev indviet i den nordlige del af Mitrovica i tirsdags. Åbningen af kirken var meget speciel, da det er den første ortodokse kirke, der er blevet bygget i lang tid i Kosovo. I Mitrovica bor Kosovo albanere og Kosovo serbere side om side, og ofte skal der kun små provokationer til, før begge parter er ude på gaden for at protestere.

Der var derfor særlig opmærksomhed fra bataljonens side på denne indvielse, da begivenheder af denne karakter hurtigt kan udvikle sig til mere end blot end fredelig samling. Dagen var også speciel, forbi den serbiske ærkebiskop Patriark Pavle var kommet for at åbne kirken. Åbningen begyndte om morgenen, og bataljonen havde iværksat en diskret patruljering af området.

Dette for ikke at provokere de mennesker, som kun var interesseret i den kirkelige handling, men for til stadighed at kunne reagere hurtigt, hvis der opstår problemer. I løbet af kort tid var der samlet over 1500 mennesker. Alt forløb dog roligt, og om aftenen var der fest i et tilstødende telt og en rock koncert med et band fra Serbien. Indvielsen sluttede af med fyrværkeri, og omkring midnat kunne bataljonen sænke beredskabet efter en fredelig dag.

Operation DRENCA WIDE.

Denne uge har for bataljonen og især for panserinfanterikompagniet stået i operation Drenica Wide’s tegn. Forberedelserne til operationen startede onsdag, idet en del af kompagniet kørte ned til den sydlige del af ansvarsområdet for at se, hvordan området ser ud og planlægge placeringen af de forskellige enheder. Imens gik resten af kompagniet hjemme i Camp Olaf Rye og klargjorde materiellet og køretøjerne, som skulle medbringes på operationen.

Onsdag aften kørte hele kompagniet ned i området, hvor operationen skulle foregå. Dernede kørte enhederne ud i udvalgte områder, hvor de skulle blive natten over og holde øje med specielt udvalgte områder - en forholdsvis kold oplevelse - da nattefrosten er startet i Kosovo. Næste dag gik med nogle få patruljer i området, og derudover at få noget søvn oven på nattens observering, inden vi igen rykkede ud i områderne for at observere for natten.

Mens panserinfanterikompagniet gjorde dette i deres område, var der et amerikansk kompagni, der gjorde det samme i området, der grænsede op til vores. Fredag, meget tidlig morgen, lukkede kompagniet det område af, som vi nætterne inden havde observeret på. Dette blev gjort ved hjælp af kontrolposter, der kontrollerede alle ud- og indkørselsveje.

Samarbejde jord til luft.

I området der grænsede op til det amerikanske kompagni, blev der lavet en fælles kontrolpost, hvor der indgik en gruppe fra panserinfanteriskompagniet og en deling fra det amerikanske kompagni.

Denne fælles opgaveløsning med danske og amerikanske soldater gik godt, og der blev udvekslet erfaringer og gode historier indbyrdes. Den amerikanske enhed kom i tirsdags og var derfor så heldig at den kunne deltage i koncerten med ”Die Herren”, hvor lejrens eget band ”COR Busters” var opvarmning. COR Busters blev i øvrigt tilbudt at komme og spille i den amerikanske lejr for 600 soldater.

Alt dette stod på indtil fredag eftermiddag, hvor vi ”åbnede” området igen, og det amerikanske kompagni og hovedparten af panserinfanterikompagniet kørte hjem igen. Tilbage i området blev 3 deling, som overvågede området endnu en nat, inden de kørte hjem lørdag morgen til et velfortjent bad og en god gang morgenmad.

Logistik og march.

Bataljonen skulle afgive vores franske enhed (EEI) til amerikanerne og skulle til gengæld modtage en amerikansk enhed. De blev med stabskompagniets hjælp indkvarteret i gymnastiksalen på feltsenge.

Det var ikke de bedste forhold, men de var meget tilfredse med såvel indkvartering som bad og toilet. Indledningsvis var det planlagt, at amerikanerne selv skulle medbringe feltrationer, som de skulle bruge under operationen, men efter at have været i Camp Olaf Rye i et døgn kom deres Sergeant Major op til os i logistiksektionen.

Han havde under en af briefingerne hørt, at der til nogen af vore egne enheder blev bragt transportkost ud. Det var de meget interesseret i, for som han sagde "maden i den danske lejr er jo meget god og varieret".

Logistiksektionen fik arrangeret det med køkkenet, således at de også kunne få transportkost. Hver gang de var inde for at afhente kosten, kom de lige forbi os for at fortælle, hvor glade og tilfredse de var med den gode service, de fik af os. Der var flere af dem, der mente, at det var bedst, hvis de kunne blive her i lejren, indtil de skal rotere hjem i februar 2006.

Det har således været en uge med megen travlhed, mange gode oplevelser og gode erfaringer på det logistiske område. Vi var alle enige i, at det er meget lettere at kommunikere med amerikanerne end med tjekkerne. Engelsk er lettere at forstå end tjekkisk.

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ØST KOSÓVA / PRESEVO-DALEN / SYD-SERBIEN


For nemheds skyld bruges betegnelsen Øst Kosóva / Presevo-dalen om det omstridte område med byerne: Presheva, Medvegja og Bujanoci (Albansk stavemåde). Ca. 75 % af befolkningen skønnes at være etniske Albanere - måske omkring 70.000. En modstandsgruppe har været i funktion, men synes nu at være »lukket ned«. Gruppen kaldtes i forkortet form UCPMB (som står for noget i retning af: Ushtria Clirimtare e Presheva, Medvegja dhe Bujanoci; på Engelsk: Liberation Army of Presheva, Medvegja and Bujanoci). Gruppen sagde at den intet havde at gøre med Kosova's UCK, og at den var en lokal gruppe.

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ALBANIEN




Klik på kortet, hvis du vil have det forstørret / click http://bjoerna.dk/kort/Albanien.gif to enlarge it


Info fra Albaniens Statistik: Befolkningstal: 3,1 Mio (1.1.2004). GDP (Gross Domestic Product): 630 Mia Lek (2002, current prices); GDP-structure: Agriculture: 26 %, Industry 10-11 %, Construction: 7-8 %, Services: 55-56 %. Export: 54 mia lek (2003) [heraf til Danmark: 23 mio lek; størrelsesorden 1,2 mio kr], Import: 226 mia lek (2003) [Heraf fra Danmark: 855 mio lek; størrelsesorden: 45-50 mio kr], Tradedeficit: 171 mia lek (2003). Største import fra Italien (75 mia lek) og Grækenland (45 mia lek), største eksport til Italien (40 mia lek). Unemployment: 14-15 % (2004-III)





Det Engelske Udenrigsministeriums 'Country Advice' til rejsende kan findes på adressen: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618385522. Det Danske UM har pt ingen rejsevejledning, men henviser til det Engelske UM. Den Norske Ambassade kan findes på: http://www.norvegji.org/. Det Amerikanske UM har Juni 2004 offentliggjort en 'Background Note' om Albanien: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3235.htm


Mother Teresa: http://bjoerna.dk/albanien/Teresa.htm.


Præsident Moisiu's aktiviteter [Billederne i denne sektion kan som regel forstørres ved at klikke på dem (mens man er på nettet)]:


  


Præsident Moisiu har haft besøg af den Makedonske Præsident Crvenkovski. Forskellige aftaler skulle underskrives. Albaniens energisituation drøftes. Præsidentkontoret har udsendt flg.:

President Moisiu and President Crvenkovski gave a joint press conference.

November 16, 2005

After the official talks between the two state delegations, President Moisiu and President Crvenkovski gave a joint press conference and answered to the questions of journalists.

In his press release, President Moisiu stated:

“I have the pleasure to declare that we held a friendly a fruitful meeting with President Crvenkovski and the respective delegations. I would like to confirm that Albania gives importance to the enhancing and strengthening of the multilateral relations of collaboration with Macedonia. These relations take a special place in the entirety of the good neighbouring relations with the countries of the region.

The relations between our two countries serve also to the long term joint objectives to be part of the European Union and NATO.

We are convinced that through the development of the climate of friendship, trust and collaboration we invest in the stability and prosperity of the region and in our common European future.

An important part of our talks were the strengthening of the all sided collaboration ways in the economic and trading field, in the energy, culture, education, science. The signing today of four agreements is very meaningful indicator of the perfection of these relations.

We also discussed about the regional developments and collaboration. We hailed the decision of the United Nations Security Council on the beginning of the talks on the status of Kosova.

I express the conviction that these talks will bring to solution of the issue by making Kosova an independent and democratic country that respects human rights and the rights of the minorities and that lives in peace and harmony with its neighbours.

We agreed to continue to keep permanent contacts and to hold meetings in order to exchange views about the future. Once again I would like to congratulate President Crvenkovski and the delegation that accompanies him to have the best time possible during these two days in our country.

While President Crvenkovski emphasized that this official visit has a special importance. “I am happy from the fact that today there were signed some important agreements through which the legal framework of the bilateral relations will be further deepen and it will show a further collaboration between the two countries. Our join opinion is that between us exist very good collaboration relations, that we will have further collaboration in the future between our common strategies. In the future it must be paid a special attention to the economic and trading collaboration, which is still far away. Another field of collaboration between our two countries in the period to come is also the one in the energy field, on inter-conjunction points between our countries.”

Then the press conference proceeded with questions from the Albanian and Macedonian journalists.

Albanian Public Television: I have two questions for both presidents. First, what will the two countries further do in the framework of the “Adriatic 3” Charter? Secondly, it is being talked for quite some time about the liberalization of the visa regime between the two countries. I believe that the citizens of Macedonia and Albania both would want this answer. When will the visas liberalization between our two countries take place? Thank you!

President Moisiu: Regarding the question related to the collaboration in the framework of the “Adriatic 3” Charter, I think that the collaboration among Macedonia, Croatia and Albania is in a very good phase. There have been a series of meetings in this framework between the Ministers of Defence, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other defence personalities. I judge that the signing of this agreement among our countries and the United States of America has been very useful and has helped in preparing to be integrated and adhere. In this framework there have been joint exercises held with the support of NATO that have helped in enhancing the capabilities of the military of our two countries.

As the result of this work, a little while ago, a medical team made by members of Macedonia, Croatia and Albania went to Afghanistan. The respective organs are in constant touch to perfect the work and collaboration among them.

Regarding the second question on the visas liberalization, as you know, the visa regime has been simplified: they can be issued at the border. The Albanians of Macedonia enter without a visa according to an agreement signed before. Of course there is room for this issue to be further perfected. President Crvenkovski can state his opinion.

President Crvenkovski: Regarding the first question, I would like to reiterate the words of President Moisiu. I would like to address the citizens of the Republic of Albania and those of the republic of Macedonia with a message. The eventual meaning that the foreseen NATO Summit will not be held must not in no way cause obstacles in the reforms that must continue, because this would be a great mistake. The process must continue with the sole aim: the collaboration to achieve the main target which is the adhering of all these countries in the NATO Alliance.

Regarding the second question, the visas liberalization, I support the decisions of the European Union regarding the criteria that must be followed in this field. The more a country approaches the membership in the European Union, it is its duty to respect more the decisions and the criteria of this country.

I have also, regarding the visas liberalization, a small objection to make: not to look to which community do the citizens belong regarding this issue. I hope that the Republic of Albania will keep in mind this access also.

A Macedonian journalist: Regarding the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia. Has this issue been raised during the talks held here in Tirana today?

President Moisiu: It is known that the use of the name is a problem between Greece and Macedonia. We hope for this issue to be resolved through understanding between the sides and the United Nations Organization. We wish for it to be resolved as soon as possible because it also has to do with the understanding of relations in the region. As far as the stand of Albania, it is already known.

President Crvenkovski: Regarding the issue of the name of the Republic of Macedonia, the contesting between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia, the talks continue between the two countries with the intermediation of the United Nations. On this occasion, I can stress that in the diplomatic relations the Republic of Albania uses the constitutional name: the Republic of Macedonia. This can be seen also in the agreements signed today.

I would like on this occasion to thank President Moisiu, the Albanian government for this very delicate moment connected to the name of the Republic of Macedonia!

Gerti Selenica: Mr. Moisiu, lately we have learned of the contacts that you have had with your homologues regarding the energy crisis in Albania. Mr. Moisiu, did you have similar engagements with this problem of our country? Mr. Crvenkovski, what kind of help has the republic of Macedonia concretely offered to help Albania at this period of crisis?

President Moisiu: It is known that solving the crisis problem it is the issue of the Executive, but I, as the Head of State and as an Albanian citizen can not stand away from this problem.

During the meeting that I held with the Minister of Economy, Mr. Ruli I have asked him how can I be useful to help. In this aspect I have used the personal contacts and communications with the presidents of the region. I talked to President Crvenkovski while he was in Finland. On this occasion I would like to thank him for the readiness he demonstrated to help the Albanian state to overcome this crisis with the means that they have.

I have also held a phone conversation with President Parvanov who also was ready to collaborate and advised the ministers of his government to contact our Minister and help as much as possible.

We have faith in the other measures taken by the government regarding the softening of the energy crisis in our country, that the crisis will be overcome as soon as possible and I hope that the government will study a strategic plan for the future in order for Albania not to face this kind of crisis anymore.

President Crvenkovski: I, immediately after the request of Mr. Moisiu for help regarding the energy crisis, contacted with the respective Minister in this field and was informed that they did all the possible consultations and the decision of Macedonia was to help, to offer Albania an opportunity to overcome this crisis. The measure that was taken was the increase of the level of the energy producing and a greater influx of the waters towards Albania.

I also undertook another step regarding a greater supply opportunity, which is used in maximum by Albania. We made available the transition of electric energy towards the Republic of Albania.

I would like to emphasize that during today’s discussions between the Ministers of Economy this issue will be treated more and that the problem in this case is the capacity regarding the transiting of electric energy from Macedonia towards Albania. One of the future projects between the Republic of Albania and Macedonia can be the construction of an aqueduct with full capacity in order to enable the electric energy.


Præsident Mosiu har haft besøg af NATO Repræsentanten i Albanien, den Italienske Gen. Brig. Vito DI Ventura.

November 15, 2005

The President of the Republic, Alfred Moisiu received the NATO representative in our country, Gen. Brig. Vito DI Ventura.

  

The talks focused in some aspects that have to do with the issue of Albania’s integration in NATO. The two interlocutors pointed out that in this structure will adhere Albania and not only the Albanian Army, so there are a lot of things that remain to be done in the military and political field.

President Moisiu expressed the gratitude for the given support by NATO to reform the army and about the fruitful collaboration between the sides in the direction of joint exercises, concrete engagement of the Albanian Armed Forces in its plan-programs, etc., and also the conviction that the Albanian side will continue to fulfil the requirements in order to enable the realization of this major objective of our country.

Gen. Brig. Di Ventura stated that the Albanian contribution and the continuous efforts are already known and trustable to hope for an invitation in 2008. Emphasizing that NATO is not only a military organization, but also a political one, the NATO military representative in our country pointed out that during his three months of work here, has gotten to experience the very good and effective collaboration with the Albanian collaborators.

President Moisiu expressed the conviction that the new government will comply with the commitments of the Albanian Parliament on the annual military budget.


Præsident Moisiu har holdt en forelæsning i Oxford om religiøs tolerance. Jf. drøftelserne på de to Tirana-konferencer i 2003 og 2004: http://bjoerna.dk/tolerance/ og http://miqesia.dk/Summit-2004.htm

The Lecture of President Moisiu at the Oxford Forum "The Inter-religious tolerance in the tradition of the Albanian people."

  


London, Great Britain, November 9, 2005


From the outset I would like to express the distinctive pleasure for the opportunity to lecture today in such a distinguished auditorium.

I.

Albania is a country that came out late from the self-isolation. After half a century of being separated from the world, after the political transformations that happened at the global scale, the Albanians decided to alienate from their past. As it was expected, a general feeling of impatience to touch “the forbidden world” – the West – took hold of especially the young generation. In the beginning of the nineties, Albania went through a series of massive exoduses, mainly towards Italy and Greece also.

A lot of time had gone by and Albania and the West had become stranger to one another. This was their first contact at the beginning of a new era – the open society era.

An ancient history of the Albanian people, connected to the end of Medieval and the beginning of the ottoman rule was being repeated. Back then too, dense waves of emigrants with heavy and painful hearts began their journey towards the West. Albanian emigrants inhabited entire villages in the south of Italy. The local nobility received the displaced Albanians in a great manner. Italy became “Felix Italia” to these newcomers.

There is a great difference between the first Albanian emigration and their second one – the exodus that happened fifteen years ago. In the fifteenth century the richest Albanian families emigrated towards the West, the patronymic families – the ones that took with them the crests, emblems, stamps, chronicles, religious manuscripts, church bells. In the 1990-s the first to emigrate were the most inpatient ones, the most desperate. In the fifteenth century the Albanians took to the West an excellent image: they were the sons of “the Champion of Christianity” George (Gjergj) Kastrioti Scanderbeg who had saved the Western civilization from the ottoman threat and now the West was honoured and grateful to make room for those hopeless emigrants who had knocked on its doors. In the 1990s a majority of those that emigrated transmitted in the West the image of a violent, rough and threatening Albania. Very soon a question aroused in the political and academic circles of the West: Is there another Albania, one with a European face, an Albania where the civilization’s values had survived?


II.

It was exactly this question, this situation, this need to change the damaged image of the country, to also prove wrong a few tendentiousness trends of the Western press that pushed the Albanian scholars and their colleagues in Europe to search for the illuminated values of the Albanian identity as an identity of the same class with those of the Western countries, regardless that misfortune had brought it about to have a bad reputation.

There was among these values a quality – the inter-religious tolerance – which immediately attracted the well wishing attention of all those scholars and politicians, Albanian and foreign, who believed in and were searching to find another image in the Albanian people, another face worthy to be united in a not so distance future with the ancient continent.

This model makes up a precious asset to us, Albanians, and is also a positive reality with a great deal of value in the region where we live and beyond it borders. Our societies are inevitably moving towards globalization and integration by attempting the founding of a big family in which there is room also for all the assets and values of the nations and peoples. The small countries are not expected to compete in the global world with their economies and material assets. However they can contribute in enriching the global society with their most precious identity and values by creating a rich mosaic of values and cultures that recognize, respect and develop one another. The integration through values and the co-existence of the national identity with the European one make our Euro-Atlantic aspiration more reachable and useful.

The “Albania Case” as an exemplary case of the religions’ coexistence throughout the long way of history began to be treated very soon as the “Albania Phenomenon.” This ethno-distinguished character of the Albanians was evidenced more by the situation that was created through the factorization of the international terrorism as a general threat, which at the mean time is also an expression of intolerance at the higher level, gave a special importance to this ethno-distinguishable characteristic of the Albanians. The “Albania Case” or the “Albania Phenomenon” became important not only as a cultural and historical issue, but above all as a useful experience for the humanity, as an evoking and encouraging opportunity in international circles.

The unwinding brought by the overstepping of the traditional opposition between the two opposing political systems, the installing of the democratic governments and the proclamation of the Rule of Law as the ideal for the contemporary politics were accompanied by blooming of new oppositions. While the scholars were discussing whether the future would come with clashes or dialogue among civilizations, the intolerance brought about the September 11th event, which forced humanity to reflect deeply over its past and future.

Exactly at this time there were two international conferences held in Tirana, one of whom had a scholarly topic and the other a clear political aim, under the direct auspices of the institution of the head of state. The academic and university institutions held a series of other activities on the same array of issues.


III.

But what does the inter-religious tolerance mean among the Albanians? Is this the most correct term, or may be another term must be used?

In fact, the scientists, the scholars of the political and religious sociology, foreign or domestic, have used terms that contain changes in the form of nuances. The historians of religion and theologians talk about “inter-religious ecumenism,” while the medieval connoisseurs and ethnologists use the term “”inter-religious convergence.” The secular historians and sociologists are more in favour of the terms “religious tolerance, co-existence or harmony.”

In this lecture we will use the term “inter-religious tolerance” judging that either the exaggeration or the under-evaluation will bring the distortion of the truth and the historical value of the characteristic may be missing.

The Albanians are a relatively small people. They have not had many opportunities to promote the values of their historic and cultural identity because they have been divided in parts in the Balkans countries, with no more than half of them living within the borders of the Albanian state or “the London Albania” as it is called by a part of the Balkan press.

In Albania it is not a tradition to officially register on religious bases. The religious pertinence does not take part in the generalities of the population’s registration. The reports among the religious communities that are mentioned in the studies done mainly by foreigners refer to the hypothetical numbers concluded by being based on the only state demographic registration that contained also the “religion” indicator, which was conducted in 1929-30.

The religious status of the Albanian people can be judged through two viewpoints:

1.In the vertical-diachronic point of view all the Albanians are Christian;

2.In the horizontal-synchronic point of view, the Albanians is a people in which co-exist the two Abrahamic religions: Christianity and Islam. Each one of these two Abrahamic religions co-exists through their respective branches.

To simplify it: the Albanian population practises two Christian communities: the Western Roman Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The same way, this population has two Muslim communities: the Islamic community and the Bektashian one that represent the same the reforming and liberal Protestantism within Islamism.

As in any other country in the world, there are atheists in Albania and also believers who do not practise rites and are not practising in any praying house and there are mixed families with many beliefs in them. During the first half of the twentieth century a Jewish community existed in Albania which was officially recognized by the state.

Another part of the Albanians, although monotheistic in the core, appear as pantheists in the way they believe, with signs of paganism. Not only for this part, but also for the Albanians in general it is entirely normal to identify God with a mountain so the majority of the mountains in Albania can have holidays and sacrifice days throughout the year. The Albanian state itself is laic and according to the constitution of the country, the Albanian state does not have an official religion – this does not exclude the responsibility of the state to enable the conditions for the revival and development of the religion and ecclesiastical institutions.

The most realistic view on the religious status in Albania is the vertical one. A level of pagan faith exists in every Albanian. In every Albanian – even in those Albanians who converted to Islamism at the end of Medieval – do exist fifteen centuries of Christianity because the Christianity in the Albanian space has been apostolic and it has been directly spread by the Christian missionaries ever since the first century. According to the Apostles’ Gospels including the King James Version of the Bible, the first preacher of Christianity in the Illyric proto-Albanian world was Saint Paul while in Dardania – in the present Kosova – the preacher was Saint Mathew.

That part of the Albanians which did not convert into Islam has in its tradition not simply fifteen centuries of Christianity, but two thousand years of Christianity. The latest level of belief among the Albanians is Islam. This vertical view contains and explains the core of the religious tolerance among the Albanians. In any Albanian, as in any palimpsest can be discovered and found all the historic levels of the spreading of beliefs. In this aspect, placed one by one, level by level, the various forms of belief have not been seen as exclusive forms and further less as fanatical ones.


IV.

The religious tolerance among the Albanians is not a quality developed in modern times and neither formed through education and schooling. It is a tradition that originates from the depth of the centuries.

One of the most common mistakes that are usually made while treating this issue is that this tolerance was born among the Albanians after the arrival of the Ottoman political and religious factor, meaning after the fifteenth century. This goes contrary to the historical facts. The religious tolerance has existed among the Albanians before the appearance of this factor. It must be known that Albania was the area where the two greatest empires of the Medieval met and were divided by one another: the Roman and the Byzantium Empires. The same way, Albania was the point where the authority of the two churches met and separated: the Roman and Byzantine Churches.

The two Empires and the two Churches, although strong rivals and adversaries of one another, never became a cause for conflict among the Albanians. “The Theodosius Line” separated in two parts the Albanian space ever since the end of palaeo-Christianity: one part under the Roman political and religious rule and the other part under the Byzantium political and religious rule. But this separation was never transformed into a borderline between the Albanians themselves. “The Theodosius Line” remained precise only in the ancient maps. During the long process of history it has always been on the move: sometimes more in the East in favour of Rome and other times more in the West in favour of Constantinople.

The Albanians themselves did not become a factor in these movements. They freely alternated the ritual according to the alternation of the political and religious rule. It was a completely normal thing for a generation of Albanians in the Medieval to grow up as schismatic Christian and then for next generation to grow up according to the roman ritual and vice-versa, because in their conscience this was not a divine issue, but simply a case of power competition.

A strong spirit of ecumenism existed in the tradition of the Albanian church. It is a normal thing to find books of the Christian moral translated by the very clerics for the Christian Orthodox from Western models and vice-versa in the libraries with Christian manuscripts of the Albanian churches of the Medieval. In the Christian manuscripts preserved in the Albanian praying houses one can find the Christian Orthodox clerics painted with the typical clothes of a Catholic cleric and vice-versa. Not only this, but exactly at the time when Latin, Hellenic and Staroslavic language has achieved the highest level of rivalry and excluding one another as the liturgical language, in the Albanian churches and monasteries such as the Monastery of Saint John Vladimir one can find the three languages used alongside each-others without the slightest sign of fanaticism or emulation, without a sign of lack of tolerance.

It can be concluded that until the appearance of the Ottoman political, military and religious factor, it was important to the Albanian man to be a devout Christian. Whether he would be Catholic or schismatic this was simply a question of the authority of terrestrial institutions, be them state or religious ones.

Some of greatest patronymic Albanian families such as the Balshaj and Topiaj families for example, quite some times changed their religious orientation: in favour of the Roman church, in favour schism, then again pro Roman Church and again pro schism according to the move of the official authority and rule. The very same character of George Castriota Scanderbeg himself – the national hero of the Albanians – expresses in itself the full core of the convergence, ecumenism, tolerance and even the religious pragmatism of his people.

He was born in a Christian family that practiced Slavic Orthodox rites; then was educated in the Sultan’s court as a Mohammedan and became a Janissary – which means that he was converted into a fanatical Islam believer – then returned to his homeland and converted into the faith of his forefathers, married the daughter of an Orthodox of Byzantium rites nobleman and wrote in his will that he wanted to be buried in a Roman Cathedral Church in Lissus.

Through all this it can be explained also the fact that the emigrant Albanians that were established in Italy after the Ottoman conquest immediately became units: they accepted the Roman administrative dependency by preserving the Byzantium ritual. Truth be told, they were not the only ones. There do exist tens of documents, including letters addressed to the Popes, through which the Albanians of the coastline asked the same thing: administrative dependency from the Vatican and the Byzantium ritual – because only this assured them protection from the Ottoman factor.


V.

The conversion of a part of the Albanians into Islam began by the end of Medieval. There have been abuses with this new development, especially in politics. The Albanians often are called a Muslim people or with a Muslim majority. This is a very superficial reading of the Albanian reality. First of all, because Islamism in Albania is neither a resource religion, nor a religion spread at the time of origin. It is neither a residential belief, but it is an imported and inherited phenomenon in the language and liturgy of the factor that brought it.

The Islamism in Albania is an Islam with a European face. As a rule it is a shallow Islamism. If you dig a little in every Albanian you can discover his Christian core.

The majority of the Albanian families remember in which generation the conversion occurred. The majority of the Albanian families that was Islamized preserve to this day Christian surnames (they have changed only the names). A good part of them have preserved until lately the faith of the forefathers in the form of crypto-Christianity, or more precisely Muslims in appearance and Christian in content. The history of religion in Albania depicts entire areas where the population practiced in parallel the two faiths. The same way, history describes entire areas where the same praying house served on Friday to preach the Islamic liturgy and on Sunday the Christian liturgy.

The Albanian Muslim believer truly swears in the name of Koran, but at the mean time celebrates Saint Mary of August, Saint George of May, Saint Nicholas of Autumn and Christmas. This means that inside the Albanian, regardless of how he portrays himself at the present, there is a homogenizing factor and this homogenizing factor is exactly the fifteen centuries of Christianity period that each of the Albanians has in the tradition of his forefathers.

The national feeling rests above the religious distinction in the identity of the Albanians. The Albanian is first of all the member of an ethnic community and then of a religious community. One of the ideologues of the Albanians’ National Renaissance has stated laconically: “The religion of the Albanians is Albanism.” Although stated in a philosophic and political notion, this saying brings in mind the sole experience in the world when the religion of a nation is its nationality: the Jews whose religion and nationality is the Hebraism. The case of the Albanians is slightly different: the Albanians have given the priority to nationality while choosing between nationality and religion hence the nationality (Albanism) is their true religion.


VI.

The tolerance among the Albanians is not only religious, but also linguistic and in many cases, ethnic too.

During the years of the First World War there were in Albania endless foreign armies almost as in the entire Balkans: Austrian, French, and Italian, Greek, Serbian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian and Turkish armies. When the war ended and these armies did not have anything to eat, neither medicines to treat the wounds, nor means to return to their homelands, the Albanian people sheltered them in their families although it knew very well that many of them had committed crimes and atrocities on the Albanians themselves.

During the period after September 8, 1943 when Italy and Mussolini capitulated there were in Albania more than twenty thousand militia and officers that had set foot on Albania as occupying army. Within two weeks, these forces were disarmed and were treated as a deserting army, predestined to be annihilated by the Nazi army. The Albanian people saved this army from the horrible end that was expecting it, although they had killed and burned, had ravaged and robbed. The Italian soldiers were dressed with the traditional Albanian costumes and were sheltered in the families of the Albanians.

The treatment of the Jews by the Albanians during the Second World War was unprecedented. The Albanian governments collaborated with the Fascist and Nazi authorities as everywhere in the world at that time, they collaborated as vassal governments, but they never handed over to the foreign armies the lists of Jews. Albania is the only country in the world where, although it had a double occupation, no Jew was handed over, no Jew ended up in concentration camps and not even one Jew was ever victimized. This goes not only for the Jews of Albania proper, its citizens, but for about three thousand Jews that came over from other Balkan states, escaping the threat of being annihilated where they were. These three thousand Jews, whose majority had entered illegally in Albania found immediate and unconditioned protection from the Albanian authorities and people.

The tolerance consists in an ethno-typical character of the Albanians. It is not that other peoples have no tolerance. Perhaps this quality is connected also to the geo-political position of the Albanian state. While the West has viewed Balkans and it door – Albania – as an exotic East, on the contrary, the East has viewed it as a rich West. At the crossroad of the two worlds, the Albanians have taken and given with both of them by also preserving its identifying core, by serving as a bridge where influences passed and by also absorbing from them. This way was formed among the Albanians the historical conviction that the distinction, be it religious, regional, racist, genetic, national, cultural, etc., is not a threat, but an asset. Such a conviction has formed the inter-religious tolerance and furthers more among the Albanians and such a conviction has made its civilization an open one.


VII.

The co-existence of three religions is an unusual tendency in a region where a religion is often connected to nationalism and in the name of belief there has been caused fratricide wars. Throughout the process of founding and later on of the disintegration of Yugoslavia the Albanians were not the aggressors, but the victims of the others. Today we are the sole country in Europe and elsewhere which confines on the greatest part of the foreign borders with Albanian population. We used our presence and fortitude to found a civil co-existence among ethnicities, peoples and religions and the cases of Kosova, Macedonia and Montenegro are vivid examples of this policy.

In contrast with this positive experience, the conflicts based on religion or entwined with religious elements, which can be found also in countries with developed democracies, have dominated the political developments of the last decade in our region.

Ten years ago, in the neighbouring Bosnia happened one of the gravest cases of ethnic conflicts in the history of Europe. Before the nineties the religious communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina co-existed in peace and understanding with one another. During the disintegration process of former Yugoslavia, the very same faiths and beliefs found themselves in the extreme positions of armed adversaries. The society was divided based on religious belief and also on ethnic origin among the Bosnian Muslims, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. The extraordinary balance sheet of human, moral and material consequences it is already known worldwide. This way the use of religion and religious pertinence for political gains and ethnic arrogance brought the tragic disintegration of the Bosnian model where the religious tolerance did not lack. The case of Bosnia demonstrated in a vivid way in our region how dangerous it can become when religion is used as a cover to achieve nationalistic political objectives.

The same scenario was prepared to happen in Kosova too. The propaganda of Milosevic tried to present the peaceful Albanian resistance as a war of the Albanian Muslims against the Serb Christianity. The entire world witnessed the expulsion of a million of innocent citizens whose only guilt was opposing the criminal regime of Milosevic and the aspiration to live free. All the Albanian citizens and religious beliefs in Kosova, Catholics and Muslims became victims of the Serbian terror by offering another example that the Serbian violence was not directed against a religious belief, but against an entire people of a different nationality.

Through the help of NATO and the democratic countries, especially through the active role of the United States of America and United Kingdom the humanitarian catastrophe, the genocide over an innocent people and the strategy of the further ethnic cleansing in the Balkans were prevented in 1999. The war of Kosova put an end to the Balkan wars of 1990s which took the lives of more than one million innocent citizens.

The Albanians and the Serbs in Kosova together with the other ethnicities are jointly working for six years towards building a democratic, multi-ethnic and European society. There have been obstacles, difficulties and problems, some of whom were incited also by states that interested to have a lack of stability and co-existence in Kosova, but time is proving that the interest on the final status and European future of Kosova has to do with every citizen of Kosova, regardless of the religious belief and nationality. In Prishtina, lately, the politicians and citizens of all religions participated in the beginning of the construction of the Great Catholic Cathedral. They undertook this act in sign of appreciation for their ancient Christian history and also in effort to demonstrate their full willingness for a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Kosova.


VIII.

The Albanian model of religious harmony based on democratic values and Rule of Law takes upon a great value in the global debate over the need of understanding and co-existence of cultures and civilizations. In the contrary to the pessimistic scenarios and forecasts, the values of freedom and democracy are successfully facing the threats by becoming more and more dominating in approaching and strengthening the ties among cultures, peoples, religions and civilizations. Inspired by these universal values, the Western community liberated Kosova which had a majority of citizens belonging to the Muslim faith and we, Albanians also joined without hesitation the war of the coalition led by the United States against international terrorism. Our peacekeeping forces are dislocated in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to strengthen the young democratic societies of these countries. Regardless of the hardships of rebuilding, with the fall of the regimes of Sadam Hussein and Taliban, a new perspective has opened for the inhabitants of these countries and terrorism has suffered a major blow and the human world is safer.

In my point of view, terrorism is older than all the present religious beliefs, it has no faith, it has neither homeland and nor a system of values where it can be based. Being such it would be wrong and unjust to identify terrorism with a people or religious belief. All must be united in the fight against terrorism, regardless of the religious belief and ethnic pertinence. Terrorism presents in modern societies the greatest threat for the democratic values and freedoms. Terrorism presents the very same threat in other societies too, where the borderline between freedom and censorship is hard to be defined. Hence it remains a great evil that must be fought by all, together and without hesitation.


IX.

The peaceful religious pluralism has served as a unifying element among various peoples, families and groups in society. The religious communities remain faithful to their initial inspiration to the benefit of goodness and peace and also with a great dedication play an active role in overcoming social problems, in breading and educating the youngsters, in strengthening the role of family, culture and European national identity. Through their distinctive contribution Albania represents also one of the unique cases of a country with different religious beliefs, where all the political factors of the society, including here the religious communities too, are strong supporters of the country’s integration in the European Union and NATO. The Euro-Atlantic spirit knows no opposition and no objectors which demonstrate that our religious and social identity is and still remains a deeply European one.

We are conscious that values are not eternal, that they must be preserved and cultivated in the mentality of the citizens together with the democratic culture and continuous improvement of the legal framework. At the same time, we strive to transform the culture of dialogue among different religious beliefs and communities into a bridge of union and communication, of exchange and stronger connection among the peoples and countries; to work so the citizen, his integrity and the preservation of his human rights can be the main Leitmotiv of the Rule of Law that we are building. Through the strengthening of the democratic values and Euro-Atlantic spirit it would be easier to isolate the extremists, to successfully face the challenges of the time and to prevent the possible threats in the relations among peoples in society or in the relations with other countries.


Scanderbeg. Links:

http://scanderbeg.dk

Hvad véd vi i dag?: http://bjoerna.dk/albanien/Skanderbeg.htm


UM Dr Condoleezza Rice har udsendt 'Religious Freedom Report'. Afsnittet om Albanien følger her:

Albania

International Religious Freedom Report 2005. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.

There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion.

The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom.

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.

Section I. Religious Demography

The country has an area of 11,100 square miles, and its population is approximately 3,144,058. It has a largely homogeneous ethnic population, consisting of Ghegs in the north and Tosks in the south. The ethnic Greek communities, the largest minority group in the country, are located in the south. Other small minorities include the Roma, the Egyptian community (an ethnic group similar to the Roma that does not speak the Roma language), Vlachs, and Macedonians.

The majority of citizens are secular in orientation after decades of rigidly enforced atheism under the Communist regime, which ended in 1990. Despite such secularism, most citizens traditionally associate themselves with a religious group. Citizens of Muslim background make up the largest traditional religious group (estimated at 65 to 70 percent of the population) and are divided into two communities: those associated with a moderate form of Sunni Islam and those associated with the Bektashi school (a particularly liberal form of Shi'a Sufism). Recently, the Muslim community, known as the Albanian Muslim Community, resumed using its historical name of the Albanian Islamic Community. In 1925, after the revolution of Ataturk and the Bektashi's expulsion from Turkey, the country became the world center of Bektashism, although it has not been recognized as such by the Government. Bektashis are estimated to represent approximately one quarter of the country's Muslim population.

The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (referred to as Orthodox) and the Roman Catholic Church are the other large denominations. An estimated 20 to 25 percent of the population belongs to communities that are traditionally Albanian Orthodox, and approximately 10 percent are Roman Catholics. The Orthodox Church became independent from Constantinople's authority in 1929 but was not recognized as autocephalous (independent) until 1937. The Church's 1954 statute states that all its archbishops must have Albanian citizenship; however, the current archbishop is a Greek citizen who is still seeking Albanian citizenship.

Muslims are found throughout the country but are concentrated mostly in the middle of the country and to a lesser extent in the south. The Orthodox live mainly in the south, and Roman Catholics in the north of the country; however, this division is not strict, particularly in the case of many urban centers, which have mixed populations. The Greek minority, concentrated in the south, belongs almost exclusively to the Orthodox Church. No data are available on active participation in formal religious services, but estimates indicate that 30 to 40 percent of the population practices a religion. Foreign religious representatives, including Muslim clerics, Christian and Baha'i missionaries, members of Jehovah's Witnesses, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and many others freely carry out religious activities.

According to the State Committee on Cults, during the period covered by this report, there were approximately 17 different Muslim societies and groups active in the country; some of these groups were foreign. There were 30 Christian societies, not including evangelical groups, representing more than 74 different organizations. Additionally, there are 571 Christian, Baha'i and Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries, and 379 Catholic and 115 Muslim missionaries. The largest foreign missionary groups were American, British, Italian, Greek, and Arab.

Section II. Status of Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. According to the 1998 Constitution, there is no official religion and all religions are equal; however, the predominant religious communities (Sunni Muslim, Bektashi, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic) enjoy a greater degree of official recognition (e.g., national holidays) and social status based on their historical presence in the country. All registered religious groups have the right to hold bank accounts and to own property and buildings. Official holidays include religious holy days from all four predominant faiths. Religious movements may acquire the official status of a juridical person by registering with the Tirana District Court under the Law on Nonprofit Organizations, which recognizes the status of a nonprofit association regardless of whether the organization has a cultural, recreational, religious, or humanitarian character. The Government does not require registration or licensing of religious groups; however, the State Committee on Cults maintains records and statistics on foreign religious organizations that contact it for assistance. No groups reported difficulties registering during the period covered by this report. All religious communities have criticized the Government for its unwillingness to grant them tax-exempt status. Since 2003, foreign religious missionaries have been exempted from the residence permit tax.

The State Committee on Cults is charged with regulating the relations between the Government and all religious communities, large and small. The Chairman of the Committee has the status of a deputy minister and answers directly to the Prime Minister. The Committee recognizes the equality of religious communities and respects their independence. The Committee is charged with working to protect freedom of religion and to promote interreligious cooperation and understanding. The Committee claims that its records on religious organizations facilitate the granting of residence permits by police to foreign employees of various religious organizations. No organization claimed that the Committee did not facilitate access to residency permits during the period covered by this report. In 2004, the State Committee on Cults assisted 1,084 foreigners in obtaining residency permits.

There is no law or regulation forcing religious organizations to notify the Committee of their activities; however, Article 10 of the Constitution calls for separate bilateral agreements to regulate relations between the Government and religious communities. In the period covered by this report, the Government drafted separate bilateral agreements with the four predominant religious communities (Sunni Muslim, Bektashi, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic). To date, only the Catholics have finalized their bilateral agreement with the Government. It is expected the other bilateral agreements will be finalized in 2005.

Additionally, the State Committee on Cults drafted a law on religion to deal with all religious communities according to a common standard; however, no action had been taken on the draft by the end of the period covered by this report.

In December 2004, the Government hosted a regional summit with the heads of states from Southeast Europe to promote interethnic and interreligious dialogue. In March 2005, in a ceremony organized by the nonprofit group Religions for Peace, the four predominant religious communities signed a statement of shared moral commitment. Under this initiative, the religious leaders committed themselves to promoting tolerance, coexistence, and respect for other faiths. According to official figures, there are 14 religious-affiliated schools in the country, with approximately 2,600 students. The Ministry of Education has the right to approve the curricula of religious-affiliated schools to ensure their compliance with national education standards, and the State Committee on Cults oversees implementation.

In January 2005, a new Roman Catholic-affiliated university with 200 students, the Lady of Good Counsel, was opened in Tirana. Additionally, the Government made a verbal commitment to allow the development of a Muslim-affiliated university.

There are 85 vocational training centers with approximately 6,000 students administered by religious communities. Some organizations described difficulty in registering religious-affiliated schools. As a result, religious-affiliated schools and vocational training centers continued to operate either as unregistered religious schools or converted to a secular curriculum or were closed. The Government reported the closing of several schools because they were unregistered or had changed the activities for which they were registered. Inspections by the Ministry of Education resulted in the closure of 12 religious-affiliated schools and kindergartens.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion. The Government is secular. The Ministry of Education asserts that public schools in the country are secular and that the law prohibits ideological and religious indoctrination. Religion is not taught in public schools. No restriction is imposed on families regarding the way they raise their children with respect to religious practices.

In 1967, the Communist government banned all religious practices and expropriated the property of the established Islamic, Orthodox, Catholic, and other churches. The Government has not returned all the properties and religious objects under its control that were confiscated during the Communist regime. In cases in which religious buildings were returned, the Government often failed to return the land that surrounds the buildings, sometimes because of redevelopment claims by private individuals who began farming it or using it for other purposes. The Government does not have the resources to compensate churches adequately for the extensive damage many religious properties suffered. Although it has recovered some confiscated property, including one large parcel of land near Tirana's main square where construction of a cathedral is under way, the Orthodox Church has claimed delays in local approvals for construction of churches and other buildings associated with the Church. Further, the Orthodox Church claims a lack of action on a number of other property claims throughout the country, as well as difficulty in recovering some religious icons for restoration and safekeeping.

The Roman Catholic community also has outstanding property claims but was able to consecrate a new cathedral in central Tirana in 2002 on land provided by the Government as compensation for other land confiscated during the Communist era. The Sunni Muslim and Bektashi communities have also requested that the Government return a number of religious properties, including, in the case of the former, a large parcel of land located across from the Parliament building in the center of Tirana on which a mosque once stood. However, the new Urban Regulatory Plan for Tirana sets aside land for a new mosque in another location. The Islamic community does not approve of this location, nor has it received permission to build a mosque in the approved location. The Bektashi community is also seeking compensation from the Government for victims of religious prosecution during the Communist regime.

In July 2004, Parliament approved a new law on the restitution and compensation of properties confiscated during the Communist regime. According to the new law, religious communities have the same rights as private individuals in matters of property restitution or compensation. However, the religious communities question the law's limitation on property restitution to 150 acres. The Government has not established a monetary fund for compensation.

The Albanian Evangelical Alliance, an association of approximately 98Protestant churches throughout the country, claimed that it encountered obstacles in accessing the media. However, Evangelical Alliance representatives stated that it was not clear whether the limited access was due to the organization's small size or to its religious affiliation. The growing evangelical community has expanded its relationship with the country's various public institutions such as the universities.

In response to media reports alleging because of their teachings, Jehovah's Witnesses were responsible for a recent series of juvenile suicides (see Section III), the state police announced all "suspicious sects" in the country would be investigated and examined. At the time of this report, no such "suspicious sects" had been investigated or examined. The Government also banned the dissemination of religious literature in "public places." The Government provided no definition of "public places," but it is assumed this ban refers to public schools and government facilities.

There were few Jews in the country before WWII. During WWII, many Jews from other countries found shelter in the country, but almost all emigrated to Israel after 1991. There are believed to be fewer than 100 Jews left in the country, and there were no reports of synagogues or community centers functioning in the country.

There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees.

Forced Religious Conversion

There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.

Abuses by Terrorist Organizations

There were no reported abuses targeted at specific religions by terrorist organizations during the period covered by this report.

Section III. Societal Attitudes

The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom. Society is largely secular. Intermarriage among members of different religions is extremely common. Religious communities take pride in the tolerance and understanding that prevail among them.

Early in 2005, some elements of the media repeatedly attacked the Jehovah's Witnesses community, alleging their influence in a recent series of juvenile suicides. These accusations led to increased incidents of intimidation and threats of violence against Jehovah's Witnesses. Other religious communities expressed similar problems after the media attack on the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Additionally, the media also alleged that the death of two Muslim men while preparing explosives was related to their membership in the Islamic community.

The investigation regarding the 2003 killing of Sali Tivari, the former General Secretary of the Islamic Community, was ongoing.

Representatives of the Orthodox Church expressed concerns that some churches, crosses, and other buildings were the targets of vandalism, although these incidents were isolated and believed to be the result of weaknesses in the country's public order mechanisms rather than due to religious intolerance.

In June 2004, Kastriot Myftari, author of the book "Albanian National Islamism," was acquitted of all charges of inciting religious hatred.

Unlike in some previous years, the Bektashi community did not experience intimidation, threats, vandalism or violence.

Section IV. U.S. Government Policy

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The U.S. Government has employed numerous initiatives to further religious freedom and tolerance. The U.S. Embassy continues to urge the Government to address outstanding religious property claims and to return church lands to the denominations that lost them under Communist rule. Embassy officers, including the Chief of Mission, meet frequently (both in formal office calls and at representational events) with the heads of the major religious communities in the country.

The Embassy has been active in urging tolerance and moderation as a continued hallmark of society. The Embassy has provided grants to local organizations to promote interfaith tolerance and understanding and to support the teaching of civic affairs and religious tolerance in secondary schools, including schools operated by faith-based organizations. Projects that support inter-faith understanding and that strengthen civic education in religious-affiliated schools help ensure that tradition is preserved as forms of Islam and Christianity, new to the country, seek to take root.

In July 2004, a group of religious leaders participated in a three-week International Visitor's program to gather insight into the nature of religious diversity in the U.S., including the educational role of religious institutions and the mechanisms through which religious communities play a positive role in a vibrant civil society.

From September 2004 through April 2005, using an Embassy grant, the "Civic and Faith-based Education Project" continued to expand its activities throughout the country bringing together local authorities, teachers, students, religious leaders, and civil society representatives to discuss ways of cultivating values that can contribute to a more democratic, diverse and tolerant society.

The project also extended cooperation with the Education Department of the Albanian Islamic community, which, as a result, introduced constructive, cooperative civic education curricula into Muslim-affiliated high schools in Tirana. The project seeks to replicate this experience in other Muslim-affiliated high schools throughout the country.

The Embassy also continued to support the project "Tolerance Days in Religious Schools" through which secular and religious community leaders, government officials, and others explored how to strengthen mutual understanding among faiths. The U.S. Government continued funding for a project on fostering religious tolerance. This 2-year project started in May 2004 and seeks to support the peaceful coexistence of different religious groups and to foster greater understanding among persons of different faiths.

Released on November 8, 2005


PM Sali Berisha's aktiviteter: [Billederne i denne sektion kan som regel forstørres ved at klikke på dem (mens man er på nettet)]




PM Berisha har besøgt Pave Benedikt


Fire Ambassadører er blevet afskediget: FN-Ambassadør: Agim Nesho. Ambassadør i Rusland, Belarus, Kazakhstan og Uzbekistan: Avni Xhelili. Ambassadør i Østrig og Slovenien: Shpresa Kureta. Ambassadør i Bulgarien og Moldova: Fatmir Kumbaro.


Parlamentet har vedtaget en resolution om korruptionsbekæmpelsen. Beslutningen faldt efter en meget lang debat. Der er delte meninger om Parlamentets måde at diskutere emnet på. Edi Rama (Tirana's Borgmester og Socialisternes Formand) er stærkt kritisk.


Parlamentsvalget i 2005 [Præsidenten vælges af Parlamentet for 5 år, næste gang i 2007]: Se nærmere i: http://bjoerna.net/sidste-nyt/265.htm


OSCE's Missionschef, Pavel Vacek, er blevet interviewet til TV-Klan af Ilva Tare. OSCE skriver:

Albania failed again to have free and democratic elections. Instead it was said that they partly met the standards. Do you feel responsible for this since you have offered assistance during the reforms on the electoral process?

We are responsible for the assistance, not for the results. Those are always and entirely in the hands of the Albanian political representation.

Smaller parties accuse the OSCE of having failed in Albania with the frequent electoral reforms. According to them, the OSCE has fallen in the trap of the larger parties and that you have ignored the smaller parties' interests, listening only to the two main parties. How do you comment on these allegations?

Accusations are always difficult as we all know, but I think that the biggest trap people can fall into is to put the blame on the international organisations. I think that the principal question is whether all partners on the Albanian political scene have been mutually receptive and whether they have listened to each-other. Obviously, we always listen to people and we always know the concerns. To what degree those concerns have been part of whatever consensus which underlies the current electoral code, that's another question.

Maybe you considered it enough for the consensus to be reached between the two main parties?

Obviously, that consensus was the key to having the Electoral Code passed.

After every election there is a need for further improving the legal framework. And after this gets accomplished there is another call for other improvements. What is going wrong with the changes?

Well, it's always about the degree of the progress. Obviously, the comments and the recommendations made after each of the elections in the past were meant to further that progress. It's about the approximation to the standards as interpreted by the ODIHR and this brings us to the recently-published report by ODIHR on the last elections in Albania.

Did the OSCE have any possibility to prevent the Dushk scheme before the elections took place, which, according to the report, violated the Constitution?

There is quite a number of replies to this question contained in the report itself. It was much more an issue for the Albanian political parties and it is widely known to all those concerned, especially to those directly concerned, i.e. the political parties themselves, that there have been concerns about the mechanics of these strategic voting deals which have been shared with the parties. In a way, the distorting effects of those strategic voting deals have turned against those who actually initially promoted them.

You want to say that the blame goes to the political parties and that the OSCE couldn't do anything to prevent it?

Obviously, the OSCE, like other international organisations, can not either make things happen or prevent things from happening. Its role is advisory; the role there is one of assistance, not of interference. I think that the concerns were raised with many actors in the political scene and they knew very well.

According to the ODIHR report the use of the Dushk scheme went as far as violating the constitution. In this context do you consider the current Parliament a legitimate one?

I will not pass judgements, because first of all it is about the formulations contained in the report. I do not think that the report says that this implementation of the strategic voting deals was unconstitutional and, secondly, it is about the distorting effects of those deals, and the judgement on the constitutionality or not is not up to us to pass.

Will you remain a partner in the electoral reform process, even though some small parties would not want to see you as part of such a process?

The assistance in furthering the electoral reform is one of the mandated tasks of ours, so there is no question that we would shy away. The other thing is the consensus on the fundamental parameters of the further electoral reform. That has to be reached by the Albanian political parties themselves. And I am not saying this for the first time - we would be more than happy if that consensus is reached by themselves without any outside facilitation or involvement and then we can come in with the technical expertise in legislative drafting, when it comes to it.

Aren't you tired of all this negotiating?

The debate is only beginning and it is good that it has begun and I will be looking forward to the emerging agreement on the principal contours, on the fundamentals of the electoral reform and I think that possibly more time is needed for that to happen.

As it has been usually the case, the report and the recommendations are read differently by different people. Some of them say that the changing of the electoral system is required in ODIHR's report and some others say the report does not suggest such a thing. What do you think?

Well, the report, certainly, does not prescribe that. It makes a number of recommendations which relate to the current Electoral Code, but I don't think it is the logic of the ODIHR's work to prescribe choices, to impose them, and that is why this is left open and this is up to the political representation of the country. And this brings us exactly to the report which needs to be read by all of those who are interested in pursuing the reform and I very much believe that the report has become a reference material not only for the political parties, but also for instance for the special committee established by the Assembly and this certainly goes beyond one's short comments one could be able to make on this occasion.

Mr. Ambassador you do not have any comment of your own for this issue?

Not really, not in terms of interpreting the report, because there will be an opportunity to receive such a presentation from the most authoritative person. That will be the Director of ODIHR who is coming to the country, and the visit is coming soon and one of the purposes of the visit is to present the findings and the recommendations of the report.

There have been proposals especially by the small parties to change the electoral system into a pure proportional system or a regional proportional one? Which of these choices would you be in favour of?

That is a choice which has to be done locally. This is exactly one of the fundamental questions which have to be resolved by the Albanian political actors, not by international institutions and that is why ODIHR deliberately did not make any such recommendation or did not prescribe any such choice. Because it is known that various electoral systems have both pros and cons in terms of their consequences, in terms of their impact on the political scene and life of the country. And there are practices of various countries, which adhere to various systems, and this will have to be looked at, but nobody will prescribe any particular choice in that regard.

According to the information you received out of the monitoring of the elections what went wrong was the electoral system or the infrastructure of the elections?

Well, it is perhaps a third thing which you did not mention and that's rather the performance of the political parties in terms of their undue influence on the electoral administration. That is perhaps the core of the problem there and again this is quite well described in the ODIHR report itself.

With whom of the Albanian authorities you find it easier to work with, the President or the Assembly?

That's a question which is not answerable. By definition, I am in a working contact with a number of Albanian institutions and office holders and I very much value the interaction I am able to have with both the President's Office and also the Assembly and I can not help you on this one, because this is a sort of labelling into which one does not go.

The last question. I will leave without understanding who was guilty for the serious problems in the 3 July elections…

The problem is in looking for whom to put the blame on. This probably does not lead too far, if we only look for how to put the blame on others… That in itself does not help too much. It is rather the search for solutions which has to be there. And that's my suggestion.




Jørgen Grunnet m.fl. hos PM Sali Berisha 17.11.2005. Officielt foto


OSCE har udsendt den endelige OSCE/ODIHR-rapport om Parlamentsvalget i Juli 2005. OSCE/ODIHR-Missionen blev ledet af Jørgen Grunnet. Rapporten kan downloades fra: http://bjoerna.net/balkan-dokumenter/Albania-2005-final.pdf. [I skrivende stund kan rapporten endnu ikke findes på OSCE's internetsted]. Hovedkonklusionerne er:

- Der er sket fremskridt, men der mangler en del i at Albanerne lever op til moderne Europæiske standarder. Den afgørende årsag er mangel på ansvarlighed blandt Partier og Politiske Ledere: the major political parties are yet to demonstrate political will and responsibility.

- De store partier udnyttede de tekniske muligheder de havde uden at handle ulovligt. [Kommentar: Man har i Albanien 100 kredsmandater og 40 proportionelle mandater. Hver Vælger har mulighed for at afgive to stemmer på to forskellige stemmesedler, én i kredsvalget og én i det porportionelle valg, og derfor virker systemet ikke som det danske med kreds- og tillægsmandater, men animerer til en særlig form for taktisk tænkning, både blandt Partierne og blandt Vælgerne].

- Dækningen i de elektroniske medier havde bredde og seriøsitet, dog var dækningen af de små partier ikke omfattende nok.

- Den Centrale Valgkommission levede op til standarderne. De Lokale Valgkommissioner var påvirkede af partimæssige interesser og kom for sent i gang med forberedelserne.

- Registreringen af Vælgere var bedre end tidligere, men der er tekniske mangler der bør løses snarest muligt, én af dem er at der generelt er problemer med vejnavne og adresser.

- Der var mange små og større problemer med stemmeafgivning og -optælling! Der blev gjort en del forsøg på fusk i denne fase.

- Der var mange klager - en hel del af dem var tydeligvis indgivet friviously [dvs. på et noget tyndt grundlag] - og det tog halvanden måned at få dem alle behandlet.

- Minoriteterne, særligt Roma'erne, er fortsat ikke tilstrækkelig tilgodeset. Der var forsøg på at købe stemmer fra dem.

- Der er fortsat ikke mange Kvinder blandt de Valgte.


Kommentar: Til ovenstående kan føjes at valgdeltagelsen - gennemsnitligt - var temmelig lav, i omegnen af 50% - større i visse områder, lavere i andre. Én af årsagerne til den lave valgdeltagelse er givetvis at mange Vælgere ikke opholdt sig i Albanien på valgdagen, men i Grækenland, Italien og andre steder - og at det ikke var muligt at afgive brevstemme. (Se nærmere i: # 265: http://bjoerna.net/sidste-nyt/265.htm#Valgdeltagelsen


Nedenfor the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

In response to an invitation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania to observe the 3 July 2005 parliamentary elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) established an Election Observation Mission (EOM) on 18 May 2005. It assessed the electoral process for compliance with the OSCE Commitments, and other international standards. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM joined efforts with observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP) to form an International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to observe election day procedures.

The 3 July 2005 parliamentary election complied, only in part, with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, and marked some progress in the conduct of elections in Albania. It was a competitive contest and voters were offered a wide electoral choice from a range of political parties. Yet, the process was again protracted and at times uncertain.

Major parties mounted highly visible campaigns. The electronic media were generally balanced in their coverage of electoral subjects and strived to meet their legal obligations. However, they provided the two largest parties with more than their legal entitlement and were inconsistent in the coverage of smaller parties. Despite a generally calm campaign, a few incidents occurred including a fatal shooting on election day.

These elections were the first to be held under a new Election Code, adopted in 2002 and subsequently amended. While there is room for further improvement of the legal framework, the law is overall conducive for the conduct of democratic elections. However, the major political parties are yet to demonstrate political will and responsibility commensurate with the broad authority granted to them for the electoral process. This was particularly evident in the parties’ approach to the election administration, the full respect for citizens’ fundamental freedoms, and the implementation of electoral strategies to maximise electoral gains. These strategies undermined the constitutional objective of proportionality “to the closest possible extent” of the electoral system, which remains open to abuse and should be reformed in an inclusive manner.

This report is also available in Albanian. However, the English version remains the only official document.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) administered the process in line with the provisions of the Electoral Code and consolidated its reputation for an effective, transparent and largely impartial collegial body. Many of the 100 Zone Election Commissions (ZECs), the Voting Centre Commissions (VCCs) and the Counting Teams (CTs) were formed late, for which parties bear their share of responsibility. Observers reported that often ZEC and VCC members appeared to give priority to party interests, rather than to fully respect the law.

A considerable and relatively successful, if late, effort by the state and local government authorities introduced a new framework for voter registration providing for a clear division of responsibilities of the bodies involved. In many election zones this exercise resulted in improved accuracy of voter lists. However, the significance of these efforts was lessened by the long standing inaction of the Albanian authorities in introducing a uniform system of addresses of buildings and new personal identification documents. Consequently, voter lists remained a contentious issue. Nevertheless, with a few exceptions, observers did not detect deliberate attempts to disenfranchise voters or otherwise manipulate voter lists for political gain.

The conduct of the voting demonstrated only limited progress. In many cases, VCCs did not have sufficient respect for correct procedures, particularly regarding the use of ink to prevent multiple voting, the secrecy of the vote and the checking of voters’ identity. Fewer voters were turned away from polling stations because their names did not appear on voter lists.

The counting of votes was often contentious and took considerably longer to complete than foreseen in the law. While some delays were attributable to fatigue, most were caused by obstruction of the process. As the count progressed, observers reported a number of serious irregularities in some zones including cases when votes were not counted honestly.

While it took over six weeks for the CEC and the Electoral College to hear all post-election complaints, largely as a consequence of parties filing frivolous cases, complaints were handled fairly. However, in a few cases, appellants were denied effective legal remedy due to the emphasis on the form of an appeal over its substance, as well as the CEC’s unwillingness to use fully its powers of investigation in such cases.

Minority populations, notably Roma, continued to be marginalized and were subjected to election intimidation and attempted ‘vote buying’. Further efforts are needed to improve their registration as voters and participants.

The election brought only a marginal increase in the low number of women MPs. Women are also considerably under-represented in the election administration. A genuine effort is required to address the gender imbalance in Albanian public affairs.

The OSCE/ODIHR, as well as the institutions represented in the IEOM, remains committed to support the efforts of the Albanian authorities to bring the conduct of elections in Albania fully in line with OSCE Commitments and other standards for democratic elections.


Socialisterne forbereder mistillidsdagsorden mod Parlamentsformand Topalli. ADN skriver:

The Socialists are preparing a motion of non-confidence against the Speaker of Parliament, Jozefina Topalli, dictated by the Monday parliamentary session. This was declared by the Political Secretary of the Socialist Party (SP), Ben Blushi. “Considering even the way how she has directed the parliamentary proceedings over the last three months, we have noted the Speaker of Parliament is in militant positions, in cynical positions with the opposition and in certain cases, she is transformed into a prosecutor for the deputies,” Blushi said.


EU Grant Agreement. EU skriver:

Albanian Government, European Commission sign € 44.2 million Grant Agreement

The Minister of European Integration, Mrs. Arenca Trashani and the Charge d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Commission, Mr. Robert Nelson, attended on 15 November 2005 a signing ceremony for the Financing Agreement for CARDS[1] 2005. The CARDS programme has been supporting the Stabilisation and Association Process since 2001. CARDS 2005 will provide an additional € 44.2 million of grant funding for projects and programmes in the sectors agreed between the Government of Albania and the European Commission.

This signing follows last week’s presentation of the Commission’s Progress Report. The Report judges that progress of reforms in Albania has been sufficient enough to pave the way towards concluding the Stability and Association Agreement between Albania and the European Community.

Between 2000 and 2004 Albania benefited from around 240 million euro of EU assistance. Since 2001 CARDS has been the main EC instrument of financial assistance. The main purpose of CARDS is to support Albania’s participation in the Stabilisation and Association Process, by assisting Albania in its efforts to fulfil the requirements of this process in the context of building its institutional, legislative, economic and social framework.

Being one of the EU’s instruments for external action, CARDS is implemented on the basis of a country support strategy, multi-annual indicative programmes and annual action programmes. The Financing Agreement signed on 15 November will provide € 44.2 million of grant assistance for funding the Annual Action Programme 2005.

The four main areas of support are:

· Democratic Stabilisation (to enhance the role of civil society and the media in the European Integration Process),

· Good Governance and Institution Building (to support, among others, judicial reform and support to the Albanian State Police],

· Economic and Social Development (to improve, among others, the investment climate; to address environmental challenges);

· Participation of Albania in Community Programmes (to fund Albania’s participation in EC programmes, such as “Youth” and “LIFE” for environment).

The contracts for the implementation of projects under CARDS 2005 will be prepared jointly with the responsible beneficiaries and tendered and signed over the next three years.


Nyt fængsel i Korça. EU bidrager - og skriver:

The Minister of Justice Mr. Aldo Bumci and the Acting Head of Delegation of the European Commission, Mr. Robert Nelson, endorsed on Monday, 14 November 2005 a contract worth € 3.6 million for the construction of a new prison at Korça. The works are expected to start soon and are likely to last for 18 months.

The construction of the new prison at Korça is part of the European Union’s assistance to the Albanian Justice and Home Affairs Sector in the context Stabilisation and Association Process and will be funded from the Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation programme, CARDS. This new project follows EU-funded constructions of prisons in Lezhe (completed) and Fushe Kruja (started in January 2005). The main objective of these interventions is to enhance the prison infrastructure in Albania, creating additional capacity and improving conditions for inmates.

The complex will be built on an area of approx. 40000 m2 at Korça. The works involve the construction of key prison infrastructure, such as security wall, detention block, visiting block, medical care & laundry, didactical and meeting area, and others. Apart from the civil, structural and architectural works, the contract also includes the installation of a heating and ventilation system and electrical and utility installations. The prison can accommodate 350 inmates.


Modernisering af Statspolitiets hovedkvarter. EU støtter ... og skriver:

Commission funds renovation of the Albanian State Police Head Quarters in Tirana

The Minister of Interior Mr. Olldashi and the Charge d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Commission, Mr. Robert Nelson, endorsed on Tuesday, 15 November 2005 a contract worth € 1.2 million for the renovation of the Albanian State Police Head Quarters in Tirana. The works are expected to start soon and are likely to last for 12 months.

The renovation of the Albanian State police Head Quarters in Tirana is part of the European Union’s assistance to the Albanian Justice and Home Affairs Sector. This support is an important element of our cooperation in the context Stabilisation and Association Process and is funded from the CARDS[1] Programme.

Because of the difficult working conditions of the Albanian State Police: limited space, overcrow