Albania’s Ambassador Ferit Hoxha today (1 Jun) said “we don't see any similarity” between Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, and “the unprovoked military aggression of Russia in Ukraine” or the “prefabricated” Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.

Talking to reporters in New York, Hoxha said, “we don't see any similarity between Kosovo, an independent state, and the unprovoked military aggression of Russia in Ukraine and the prefabricated - that's how I like to call them - republics in Donbass, for the very simple reason because there isn't any way, any similarity, and for the sake of truth, there is no similarity between Kosovo and any other situation anywhere in the world.”

He noted that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “in 2010 ruled that the Kosovo independence declared in 2008 did not violate international law” and added that “the very same ICJ in a couple of months ago, issued an order, unsubstantiating the Russian claim, which let's not forget was the justification for war, the supposedly genocide that Ukraine has been conducting on the Russian minorities in Ukraine.”

Turning to the stalemate in the Security Council, the Albanian diplomat said, “the Security Council mandate is to uphold, to maintain, peace and security. When the council is blocked, it does the contrary. Unfortunately, this is the truth, this situation, and we've seen that so many times. And there is one problem into that, is the misuse of veto.”

Albania holds the presidency of the Council during the month of June.