Prime Minister Edi Rama’s speech at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Rama: “Everyone in the Western Balkans must come together and plan our future jointly. It is our unwavering belief to look towards the future.”
The Russian aggression against Ukraine should serve as an alarm bell for us. The Western Balkans is in a much better position than it has ever been, but we must work relentlessly with our allies to make sure that a return to the past becomes unimaginable.
Any artificial parallels drawn between Kosovo and Ukraine aim to distract anyone within this building, but Kosovo is an inseparable part of the international reality. It should not be held hostage by anyone with false claims and justifications, starting with the five member states that do not recognize Kosovo.
In the third year of the war in Ukraine, we feel compelled that Russia must stop this, a catastrophe born from the decision of a single country, from a delusional dreamer.
We want peace, and we want peace between Ukraine and Russia as soon as possible. We are calling for a just peace, one supported by the charter of these United Nations, a peace that cannot undermine Ukraine and its rights.
We welcomed Zelensky in Tirana. Albania will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary. Another war is boiling in the Middle East. There is no place for Hamas in a world where we want to live.
We must recalibrate our moral compass in the Middle East, but there is no compass that can normalize the terror of Hamas; it is akin to accepting the coexistence with a distorted form of Nazism. We reaffirm our support for resolving conflicts in the Middle East.
