Kosovo pilot, James Berisha, 37, has embarked on an ambitious operation to fly to 34 countries and 4 territories, mostly in the Americas, to say thanks to those countries that have accepted Kosovo’s independence and to furthermore lobby others who have not yet endorsed it.
Aboard his Cessna 172, 4-seater, single-engine Learjet, Berisha left Texas last week, traveling first to Mexico and then to Belize, his second stop, at around 6:30 last night. He expects to complete his visit to the 38 places over the next month.
During the course of his journey, James Berisha is racking up 22,000 miles or 35,000 kilometers, which he said is being paid for with financing from “friends, family, credit cards.”
“I love Belize. It means a lot to me personally,” he told Amandala.
Kosovo and Belize have one thing in common – they have had to brave an inordinately difficult road to independence, though in Kosovo’s case, the journey was much more violent.
As Amandala reported in a February edition of “ICJ Stats,” the United Nations member countries have asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on the status of Kosovo, which became independent last February (2008). At last report, almost 40 member countries had filed written statements with the court on the question of Kosovo’s status.
Still lobbying for greater international recognition for Kosovo, Berisha visited Amandala today, telling our newspaper that because Belize was one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo’s independence, he would like to express his gratitude to the people of Belize.
He said that the lack of recognition hurts the country in many ways, as they are unable to sign international agreements and enter trade relations with some territories where their status is not recognized.
But more than that, the movement for independence is marred by a bloody history which for Berisha is very much close to his heart.
His father was one of the over 10,000 Albanians who were reportedly killed in war ten years ago, when thousands more were also exiled.
“My dad [Muharem Berisha] got killed in the war…on March 1st, 1999, by the Serbia paramilitary,” said Berisha.
It consoles him to know that there are others around the world who care, and who have gone on record to support their cause:
“I want to thank the people of Belize from bottom of heart for considering us, and what they have done for my people and for recognizing our independence. I specifically came just to thank them, in name of people of Kosovo and myself. You played a big part in our lives. You make us feel important,” Berisha added.
He added that, “There are still another 132 countries that still consider us [as being] from outer space.”
Sixty nations, he said, now recognize Kosovo’s independence.
Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia and Peru have all recognized Kosovo’s independence, said Berisha.
After visiting our newspaper, the Kosovo pilot headed out to Guatemala City.
Other stops on his itinerary are El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia, as well as all of the Caribbean countries. Mexican translator, Luz Ramirez, is accompanying him on his mission.
The Texas-based pilot previously worked for Sierra West Airlines out of California, and when he completes his mission to circle the Americas for Kosovo, he ventures to Europe, where he said he hopes to start a small flight school.
He told Amandala that he left his home country 21 years ago, at the age of 16. He always dreamed of being a pilot, and that dream was realized in 1993.
Now he is both living his dream and using it to convey a patriotic message to the world on behalf of his home country, Kosovo.
Going on the expedition across the continent is another way of sending a message to those who have not accepted Kosovo’s independence, to also acknowledge them, he added.
James Berisha said that he is undertaking the initiative under Flying for Kosovo, set up four months ago. The group is found on www.flyingforkosovo.com. A team of four people are working the computers in the US, he added.
Kosovo, whose capital is Pristina, has a population of just over 2 million, mostly ethnic, Albanians (migrants from next-door Albania). It stretches across 10,887 square kilometers (4,200 square miles) – about half the size of Belize.
Even though Kosovo declared its independence on February 17, 2008, the rival state of Serbia continues to reject it. (The disputing territories once formed a part of the territory of Yugoslavia.)
The Kosovo dispute is over the country’s sovereignty — whether the former province of Serbia can indeed be recognized as a state in its own right. Kosovo last year asked the General Assembly of the United Nations to support its bid to the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion – not a final and binding ruling – on what it describes as Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence.
According to a June 1 article in Kosovo Times, the country’s president, Fatmir Sejdiu, is expecting more countries to come onboard in acknowledging its independence.