Tirana, Friday, August 27, 2004, (KosovaLive) -- Albanians, wherever they are, should express their will for the reunification of their territories with the mother state, Albania through a referendum of the entire people, senior leaders of the Front for Albanian National Unification (FBKSh) said at a news conference in Tirana on Friday (27 August).

Gafurr Adili and Idajet Beqiri, leaders of the FBKSh, based in Tirana, announced that they would arrange the holding of a referendum initiative for the return to the borders of the territories partitioned by the Congress of Berlin in 1878 and the London Conference of Ambassadors in 1913.According to them, "The path of the unification of the Albanian nation begins and ends in Tirana." "The strategic objective of the FBKSh is the physical unification of Albania with the Albanian territories in Montenegro, specifically with Ulqin (Ulcinj), Hot, Grude, Plave, and Guci (Gusinje), with Kosova (Kosovo) and the Dukagjin Plateau up to Nish (Nis), including the territories of Presheva (Presevo), Medvegje (Medvedje), and Bujanoc (Bujanovac), with the Albanian territories of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and with Cameria (territories in northwestern Greece) into one single subject of the international law," said FBKSh Political Secretary Beqiri.

The unification of Albanian territories, in their opinion, will be achieved by peaceful means and will not cause turbulence in the region. They are taking this initiative on the basis of a number of international conventions that respect "people's rights to self-determination."

"Only by redrawing the borders will it become possible to put out the sparks of conflict, which caused many wars and made the Balkans a hotbed of fire and war. Many injustices were committed against Albanians over the past decades, and this is the way to undo the political injustices against the Albanian people," Beqiri declared.

Adili and Beqiri sought the support of legislators in Albania, Kosova, Macedonia, and Montenegro, and asked Albanian political leaders to support their initiative by adopting normative laws. "While respecting the Constitution of the Republic of Albania and these international laws, the FBKSh will begin working for the collection of 50,000 signatures from Albanians who are eligible to vote so that the Albanian Assembly could adopt a law that would ask Albanians to take part in this referendum, in which the people would decide whether they are for the unification of their territories."

Beqiri explained for KosovaLive the technical procedure of what they plan to do for the collection of signatures. "The referendum will not be held on the Internet, but through the collection of the signatures of Albanians, who will give accurate information about their locations, personal particulars, addresses, and telephone numbers," he said.

During the news conference, the FBKSh leaders expressed their stand regarding the situation in the region of Southeastern Europe and on the Albanians' territories.

Dwelling on the situation ahead of elections in Kosova, the FBKSh leaders said that their organization "is watching with concern the primitive state situation in Belgrade; a policy that fuels conflicts between Albanians and the Serb minority in Kosova."

According to them, "Ultimatum-like and arbitrary interference and dictates from the Belgrade government are deliberate, with the intention that the Serbs there (in Kosovo) do not participate in the October 2004 elections. Therefore, this should be seen as an additional argument for the international factor to speed up the independence of Kosova."

By the same token, the FBKSh leaders describe the Macedonians' initiative for the collection of 200,000 signatures in order to hold a referendum with the goal of depriving Albanians who live there of the few rights they have as a "primitive act." "We denounce this initiative and declare that the Former Federal Republic of Macedonia is an artificial anti-Albanian creation," they said.

According to Chairman Adili, up to this point the FBKSh has counted 87,000 members in its ranks on all territories inhabited by Albanians. In 1990, this organization was licensed by the Albanian Justice Ministry to exercise activity as a political subject, and has also played its role in the Albanian Assembly.

Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved. AFS Document Number: EUP20040827000368

City/Source: Pristina KosovaLive News Agency

FBIS Document Number: FBIS-EEU-2004-0827

Original Source Language: Albanian

Compiled and distributed by NTIS. All rights reserved.
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