Mr. Aleksander BIBERAJ, PACE Vice President, and Rapporteur on the issue of the Holodomor crimes condemnation committed by Stalin’s totalitarian regime in Ukraine and other territories of former USSR, visited our country for his third time within the framework of his mission. In this visit the Albanian MP participated in the International Forum on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine. In The Day‘s exclusive interview Mr. Biberaj explained why he agreed to be a rapporteur on this issue and why to his opinion the crimes of the Stalin’s totalitarian communist regime, specifically the Holodomor should be condemned. Mr. Biberaj also explained why the Albanians want to join NATO and why they consider that Kosovo’s independence should not in any way used as a precedent for Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“The Holodomor was a big tragedy for the Ukrainian people of that time. Millions of people became victims of Stalin regime. Our mission as politicians is to whiten what happened during Stalin communist regime in order to prevent those crimes in the future. Almost three years ago, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution for the condemnation of the communist crimes. As a rapporteur I have to prepare a report on the Holodomor and the Mass Famine in other territories of former Soviet Union, and I am sure this will be a very good contribution to history. It is easier for the politicians of former communist countries to understand what really happened during this regime. The PACE report will be prepared and adopted within two years starting from June 2008.
Mr. Biberaj, what did you know about the Holodomor before being appointed a rapporteur on this important issue?
“I had no idea about Holodomor till the collapse of Soviet Union, because of total isolation of communist countries. The history schoolbooks gave us no information on that. I firstly learned about Holodomor only several years ago in the Council of Europe when the Ukrainian delegation raised this issue. Since that I became very interested in learning the whole history of Holodomor, and my request to be a rapporteur on that issue was approved unanimously by Political Affair Committee of PACE in June 2008. According to the rules of procedures of PACE, I have to represent the report to Political Affairs Committee within two years and afterwards it will be submitted for approval by PACE. It is planned to have fact finding missions in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and maybe in other former Soviet Union Republics which suffered from the Mass Famine. The report will be prepared in two parts. The first one will be dedicated to the Holodomor, the second one - to the Mass Famine in other former Soviet Union Republics.
What is your opinion considering the fact that Russia is against Holodomor recognition, whereas other countries support the Holodomor recognition, including its recognition as genocide committed to Ukraine people? How about the opinion this issue does not belong to politics?
“I think it is our obligation as politicians to open the door to historians which write the history, because the world history gives us many examples of having closed this door to historians by Politics. Khrushchev was the first one who spoke up against Stalinist crimes in 1956. Unfortunately, there was no possibility until 1990 to learn about the Holodomor of 1932-33. Now, after 75 years, it is easy for every politician to understand clearly what happened in that time in order not to have any doubts about those communist regime crimes. It is for sure that Stalin regime was a criminal one which caused lots of tragedies not only here in Ukraine but also in all former Soviet Union Republics. So, it is the duty of politicians all over the world to condemn the crimes committed by communist regimes.”
What do you think about Russia’s position, in particular, the letter of Russian president to the Ukrainian one, in which Dmitri Medveded speaks about the “so-called Holodomor”?
“Yet I have not read this letter, but I think that Russian politicians should condemn the crimes of the Stalinist regime which were committed in Ukraine and other former Soviet Union Republics”.
Do you expect that Putin and Medvedev as well as the Russian Duma must openly condemn Stalinist communist regime?
“Of course they have to do so. All possibilities are created after 1990s for Russian politicians to condemn the crimes committed by the Stalin regime. According to my opinion, it is their obligation toward people and history.”
Was it easy to get rid of Hoxha’s regime which copied with Stalinist regime?
“Unfortunately, my country has severely suffered from the Hoxha`s dictatorship regime, even after Stalin’s death. If we see the history of Southeastern European countries, we would easily understand that those regimes softened after Stalin’s death, whereas communist regime in Albania continued the same as before even Stalin died. Hoxha’s regime fall in 1990s. The experiencing of Albanian communist regime helps me a lot of understanding what has really happened here in Ukraine”.
Can you say that Hoxha’s regime has been condemned in your country and it is impossible to come back to it?
“The history has proved to us, if we do not condemn the crimes committed by criminal regimes, it may happen again. But we have to be very, very careful about such tragedies often repeated in history. If people allow their leaders to become dictators, a dictatorship regime may happen”.
Your country received the MAP in 1999 and in April it received an invitation to join NATO. What has helped your country to reach its goal?
“Albania was member of Warsaw Treaty until 1968. In 1991 Albania was the first former communist country applying for NATO membership, and we hope that next year Albania will become a full NATO member. Successful reforms are the key issue for NATO membership. Also the consolidation of rule of law, democracy and respecting of human rights are very important issues. NATO membership is very important for every European country, for their peace and security.”
What is the main reason that over 90 percent of Albanians support NATO membership?
“The historical orientation of Albanian people for peace, development and integrity is the key reason for that”.
Is your country worried about the guaranties of protection in NATO regions after the war in South Caucasus? After this war the Baltic countries asked NATO to show the plans of their defense in case of an extraordinary situation.
“We feel sure for the security of NATO members. If Ukraine and Georgia would be accepted as NATO candidates during the Bucharest summit last April, there wouldn’t be any military conflict in South Caucasus. Therefore I consider that NATO enlargement is key security for every NATO candidate for membership”.
European integration is another priority of Albania. Your country has already signed the EU Agreement on Stabilization and Association. When will Albania be able to start negotiations for EU membership?
“This agreement was ratified so far by the European parliaments and 26 EU member states. I hope that next year Albania will start the negotiations phase with EU. I participated in many EU meetings and I saw a good will of EU concerning the admission of the Balkan countries, but the decision depends also on our reforms”.
Which country was as a good example for Albania for the implementation of constitutional reform?
“We had debates to choose the new constitution model. There were two options, either having our own model or an international one. I supported the idea that it was better to have a combination which considers the specific features of the country. In recent constitutional changes approved by the parliament, we choose and combined the Spanish and German models as proper ones for Albania. The two major political parties both from the ruling coalition and opposition agreed about the content of the constitutional amendments. I hope that the Constitution will be valid for decades in order not to make often changes of it”.
“The parliament may approve certain amendments to the constitution. However, the necessity may arise to conduct a referendum concerning certain questions. But it is understandable the difficulty of putting certain questions to referendum, because the voters may vote based on their political preferences. Irish referendum for Lisbon Treaty is a good example of that failure because the voters did not understand the technical details”.
Will Albania hold any referendum concerning NATO membership or it will pass through parliament?
“My country does not need to put this question to referendum, because our statistics show that more than 90 percent of the population supports NATO membership. The political parties are also unanimous for NATO membership.”
Your country is a neighbor of Kosovo, so what is your attitude to Russia’s usage of Kosovo precedent for annexation of Georgian regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
“I assure you that Kosovo case is a unique one and it can never be used as a precedent. Kosovo has never been part of Serbia. Unfortunately in 1913 the Big Powers decided to detach Kosova from Albania and grant it to Serbia. More than ninety percent of Kosovo’s population are Albanian Kosovars, and Serbia carried out sheer genocide against them.
Many crimes were committed against the Kosovars. As you remember, in 1999 NATO intervened into Kosovo, because the regime of Slobodan Milosevic was conducting ethnical cleansing there. The intervention into Kosovo was an international one and was headed by NATO. I would say that unfortunately Russia is trying to use the Kosovo case as justification and pretext on South Ossetia and Abkhazia case. Meanwhile, there is no similarity between Kosovo case and South Ossetia and Abkhazia case”.
“Even the so-called argument used by Russia concerning Kosovo case failed after Moscow recognized Ossetia and Abkhazia. If Russians used the same standards they should have immediately recognized Kosovo’s independence. I hope that Russia and Serbia sooner or later will recognize Kosovo, because this is a part of new reality which we have been observing in Europe since the 1990s. We know that after the communist regime collapsed, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia collapsed as well. Recalling history, we can see that creation of the USSR and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia took place with the help of instruments of dictatorship rather than people’s will. These were artificial formations which could not last for long. And now we have many independent states which were part of the Soviet Union. Many countries emerged within Yugoslavia as well. And Kosovo was the latest moment of Yugoslavia’s collapse. Therefore this is a new reality in the Balkans. I hope that the West-Balkan countries, including Kosovo and Montenegro, will soon join NATO and the EU.”
Won’t Kosovo join Albania?
“Kosovo’s and Albania’s aspirations include only NATO and EU membership. This is the future for the West-Balkan countries.”
What is your opinion for the relations between our countries?
“Our countries have good economic relations. Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of goods to Albania. We also have very good relations on a political level. I think that relations between our countries are getting closer”.
