Page:United Nations Security Council Meeting 3988 1010.3370v1.pdf/18

Security Council

Fifty-fourth year

"We underline that it is not our aim to keep the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in its self-imposed isolation in Europe and the world. On the contrary, we would like to end the isolation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Europe. But for this to happen, Milosevic must choose the path of peace in Kosovo and the path of reform and democratisation, including freedom of the media in the whole of Yugoslavia."

The President (spoke in Chinese): The next speaker is the representative of Albania. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Nesho (Albania): The moment that we are going through is a historic moment for the future of the Balkans, as the international community is intervening in order to stop the humanitarian catastrophe and the tragedy of a nation whose people have been tortured, killed and buried in common graves, a nation that is justly demanding its legitimate rights to freedom and to its very existence — undeniable rights for all peoples. The Albanians of Kosovo, despite all this, made an exemplary decision by respecting the will of the international community and signing the Rambouillet agreement.

For more than 10 years the international community did not succeed in organizing a common action such as the one undertaken today in order to stop the Belgrade regime from creating a new and dangerous crisis in the heart of Europe. The previous inaction was made possible by prolonged discussion as well as by claiming respect for principles — while in reality Europe at the end of the twentieth century witnessed the massacre of Bosnia, of Racak and other places, and more than 300,000 killings and the creation of millions of refugees.

The Republic of Albania totally supports the military action by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and we consider it an action in support of peace and stability in the region. My country strongly supports today’s action, just as we were in favour of a peaceful solution, which did not seem to come.

Today the international community did not declare war on Serbia, because war had existed there for a long time. But the international community did achieve the first step towards peace, security in the region and the re-establishment of human values and of the principles that are so well expressed in the Charter of the United Nations — principles in which we all believe.

No country that tried to bury the basic Charter principles of peace, security and cooperation, and that committed genocide and crimes against humanity, can expect to receive the protection of the United Nations and the Security Council.

The President (spoke in Chinese): The next speaker is the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Sacirbey (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Military force is never a welcome option, but it is sometimes the best, the only alternative among many bad options. It may be the only option available to save innocent lives.

Of course there was a better option, but despite the efforts of many — in Paris, London and Washington, and the efforts of the other members of the Contact Group — the Belgrade regime has shut the door on this alternative. Here I would like to take the opportunity to commend the tireless efforts of the representatives of France, the United Kingdom, the United States and many others who have at least brought about the signature of one party to this conflict: the Kosovar Albanians. We encourage them to continue their tireless efforts.

Now Belgrade seeks the sanctuary of the Security Council to hide its own blatant responsibility. A country that has unleashed its brutal war machine against its own civilian population cannot now cry victim when the international community steps in to prevent further ethnic cleansing and genocide. A country that has most recently engaged in aggression and military intervention against its own neighbours, that has committed genocidal acts against its own population and others, that has refused to adhere to international law and numerous Security Council resolutions or to cooperate with the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia cannot now credibly plead for the protection of international law. This indeed turns on their head morality, legality and the principles for which this institution, the United Nations, stands.

As for those who disdain today’s military steps directed at Belgrade, they should ask themselves whether more talks would have produced a result? So far, ethnic cleansing has only worsened. We in Bosnia and Herzegovina would still be suffering the consequences of war — war itself — if no action had been taken in the fall of 1995. For three and a half years in Bosnia and Herzegovina, people promoted talks, and for three and half years, the war, the genocide, the aggression and the 18