Macedonia -the right place for a pan-Albanian congress
Dnevnik - May 28, 2004

by Mitko Jovanov

A pan-Albanian congress will most probably be held this year in Macedonia on the initiative of the Albanian lobby in the United States. Our country was chosen because it is the safest location. The idea of the Albanian lobbyists in the United States is for all Albanians from Kosovo, Albania and the diaspora to gather in one place. Kosovo was ruled out because of the danger of terrorist attacks, whereas Albania is dead set against the event because some of its present-day politicians reportedly do not have a good relationship with the Albanian activists in the United States.

After the announcement of the news, the political parties of Albanians in this country said that they had not been officially informed by the initiator and organizer of the "congress". Their first reactions concerning the holding of the congress are positive. They expect to be officially informed.

As the MIA Macedonian Information Agency announced yesterday, a meeting was held on Monday 24 May in New York which was organized by former deputy state secretary and special US envoy to the Balkans Richard Holbrooke. It was attended by former US president Bill Clinton and his closest associates: Madeleine Albright, Wesley Clark, James Rubin and Elliott Engell. The meeting was attended also by the most influential Albanian lobbyists in the United States.

It was agreed at the meeting that the main topic of the congress would be the strategy for the activities of the corps in the Balkans. Reportedly, the idea of the initiative for the convening of a pan-Albanian congress is to get the Albanian diaspora to support the presidential candidate of the Democrats, John Kerry. In return, the Albanians were promised Kosovo's independence.

SOURCE: Dnevnik, Skopje, in Macedonian 28 May 04 p 2

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