TOM LANTOS PLEDGES HIS ACTIVE SUPPORT TO
THE ALBANIANS OF MONTENEGRO
The Albanian American Civic League Brings Congressman Tom Lantos to
Detroit
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 Detroit
DioGuardi 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
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