Lantos, the Greater Albaniac

Albanian American Civic LeaguePress Release: Tom Lantos Pledges His Active Support to the Albanians of Montenegro: The Albanian American Civic League Brings Congressman Tom Lantos to Detroit. Detroit, Mich.: Albanian American Civic Leagu (AACL) (www.aacl.org), October 1, 2002.On Sunday, September 22, the greater Detroit chapter of the Albanian American Civic League, in conjunction with the Albanian community in the State of Michigan, hosted a dinner reception and forum with Congressman Tom Lantos, in support of his daughter, Katrina Swett, who is running for Congress in New Hampshire’s 2nd district. The event, which was coordinated by Marash Nucullaj, owner of the Belleville Grille and Dimitri’s Restaurant, with the help of Michigan co-coordinators Prenk Ivezaj and Enver Jusufi, was held at St. Paul’s Albanian Catholic Church in Rochester Hills. Former Congressman and AACL President Joe DioGuardi and Balkan Affairs Adviser Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi in New York initiated this meeting with Congressman Lantos as part of the Civic League’s continuing effort to keep the Albanian dimension of the Balkan conflict at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy concerns at a time when other issues, such as Iraq and the Middle East, increasingly dominate Washington’s agenda.Prior to the event, Congressman Lantos, the DioGuardis, Marash Nucullaj, and Dr. Luke Gjokaj from Montenegro attended mass at St. Paul’s, at the conclusion of which Fr. Anton Qira introduced Congressman Lantos to the congregation and publicly thanked him for all that he has done to free the Albanians of Kosova and for his current efforts on behalf of Albanians in Montenegro. He then addressed the congregation, urging them to contact their families in Montenegro in advance of the elections on October 20 and to tell them to vote for Albanian, not Montenegrin, parties. To underscore his point, he said that it is inconceivable that Albanians in Macedonia, for example, would vote for a Macedonian party. If Albanians are to survive in Montenegro, they must not be afraid to vote for Albanian parties and they should affirm their proud and great history, culture, and language. Now is the time, Fr. Qira said, for Albanians from Montenegro to unite and to recognize that, while we have the help of great friends in Washington like Congressman Lantos and the DioGuardis, we also need to help ourselves.Marash Nucullaj opened the forum with Congressman Lantos in the Church’s social hall with a moment of silence for the war dead in Kosova and the victims of 9/11. After Fr. Qira gave the invocation, Nucullaj invited Frank Gjoka and Gjovalin Lumaj, two artists originally from Albania, to recite a poem about the history and hopes for the future of Albanians in Malesia.In his opening remarks, Nucullaj rightly questioned why Montenegro is unwilling to comply with international human rights conventions that protect minorities throughout the world, and he called for changes in Montenegrin government policy to “restore the rights of Albanians before it is too late.” Joe DioGuardi then talked about the Civic League’s efforts to keep Albanian issues on the front burner in Washington through key members of Congress like Congressman Lantos and Senator Biden who have responsibility for foreign policy, at a time when the U.S. government is preoccupied with Iraq and the war on terror.DioGuardi introduced Dr. Luke Gjokaj, a physician, human rights activist, and the head of the Malesia branch of the Democratic League of Montenegro. Dr. Gjokaj gave an overview of the historic oppression and episodes of mass murder of Albanians in Montenegro under the former Yugoslavia. He said that, because those Montenegrin Slavs responsible for killing many ethnic Albanians who were involved in anti-Communist demonstrations in 1981 are today “living in freedom, with government benefits, near the execution sites,” Albanians in Montenegro “are afraid that torture and killing can resume at any time.” As a result, he explained, Albanians lack confidence in the Montenegrin government and are motivated to immigrate to other countries. Dr. Gjokaj then presented the common platform that Albanian political parties in Montenegro recently ratified as the first phase of an effort to preserve Albanian cultural, political, and human rights. The key points of the platform include the restitution and organization of the commune of Tuzi; the opening of an Albanian-language teachers college, either in Tuzi or Ulqin, as part of the state university system; the establishment of a maternity clinic in Ulqin; the opening of the border between Montenegro and Albania in the Cemi Valley; and the freedom to research and publicize the history of ethnic Albanians in Montenegro.Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi introduced Congressman Lantos by stating that, “there are very few people in Congress today with Tom Lantos’ wisdom, courage, and knowledge of the Albanian people. Cloyes DioGuardi gave the highlights of Lantos’ background: As a Hungarian Jew who resisted the Nazis and then narrowly escaped the Holocaust for America, Lantos entered the House of Representatives in 1980 and, a year later, joined the House International Relations Committee, where today he serves as the ranking (“number one”) Democrat. In 1984, he founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (with Congressman James Porter), and in this context he was the first Member to respond to then freshman Congressman Joe DioGuardi’s appeal to expose the plight of Albanians in the Balkans. Lantos joined with Senator Bob Dole in facilitating DioGuardi’s first, dangerous mission to Belgrade and Prishtina in November 1989.When DioGuardi returned with ample documentation of Serbian atrocities, Lantos held a hearing, over the objections of the State Department, about human rights abuses in Kosova in April 1990. A month later, Lantos and DioGuardi focused international attention on Serbia’s brutal occupation of Kosova by traveling to Prishtina to confront the Milosevic regime and police force in front of the Grand Hotel. When they responded by tear- gassing and beating the Kosovars who came to see him, Lantos vowed to DioGuardi that he would make the Albanian cause for human rights and self-determination one of his top issues in Congress. From Prishtina, they traveled by car to Tirana to meet with Ramiz Alia in an effort to help bring democracy to Communist Albania. They were the first U.S. government officials to visit the country in fifty years. The trip to Prishtina and Tirana marked the “beginning of the end of Slobodan Milosevic,” Cloyes DioGuardi explained, and “the start of the diplomatic effort on behalf of Albanians in the twentieth century.”After discussing Congressman Lantos’ accomplishments for Albanians since 1990, Cloyes Page 3/Congressman Lantos in DetroitDioGuardi stressed the courage that he has shown this summer in cosponsoring H.Res. 467 with Congressman Ben Gilman at a time when we are being told that we should not even discuss the final status of Kosova, no less act on it. She concluded by talking about Congressman Lantos’ forthcoming visit to Montenegro after the Congressional elections in November and about the need to support his daughter, Katrina Swett as someone who “will continue in the tradition of her father to support Albanian issues.”Congressman Lantos began his speech by congratulating Fr. Qira and his congregation for creating the new Albanian church and praising Fr. Qira for “his leadership in getting the people to build a church of such beauty and magnitude.” He then thanked Joe and Shirley DioGuardi “for creating a movement of historical proportions” in which he and his wife, Annette, have been glad to play a part. He told the audience that it was “a privilege to stand up for the rights of Albanians on the floor of Congress and on television at the time of the most brutal and bloody suppression of Albanians by Slobodan Milosevic,” and that Milosevic’s imprisonment was an example of “justice in action,” and, as such, one of the “great joys” of his Congressional tenure.Turning his attention to the Albanian people as a whole, Lantos said that he came to Michigan “not only as a friend, but as one who admires Albanian achievements. Albanians in any society are the most hardworking, decent, and public-spirited group one could find. You are an enormous asset to the United States, and you are one of the great civilizations of Europe, and what you are capable of doing will be respected and valued across the globe.”Lantos then spoke about how the Albanian struggle fit into the broad struggle for human rights around the world. All over the world—for reasons of ethnicity, language, religion, and politics—people “are not given a fair shake, not given support to use their God-given talents. They are being left behind, not because they are inferior, lazy, or incompetent, but because they have not been given an equal chance to succeed.” Congressman Lantos pledged his commitment, and that of his daughter, Katrina Swett, to help Albanians wherever they live in the Balkans to overcome their historical disadvantages in order to succeed, prosper, and live with dignity. “Your cause is just, and the human rights community needs to respond to your plight.”In reflecting on his forthcoming trip to Montenegro, Congressman Lantos said that his 1990 visit to Prishtina “started the ball rolling,” and his visit to Montenegro “will have to do the same” for Albanians there. He added that we “we will have achieved our goals when the Albanians of Montenegro have equal status.”In response to concerns expressed by the audience about the massive emigration of Albanians from Montenegro to other countries in search of work and the failure of the Montenegrin government to allocate foreign aid money to Albanian communities, Congressman Lantos said that, as co-chairman of the Congressional committee dealing with the European Union, he would raise the issue of equitable distribution of funds in Montenegro, at a series of meetings in October. He also promised to contact the new U.S. Office in Montenegro to investigate why they had employed only Slavs from Montenegro and no Albanians. “I understand your problems. We are on the same side, the side of protecting people, and I pledge to you my best efforts,” he concluded. (Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi Ossining, New York. Published in Illyria on October 1, 2002).

2007-04-29