Mirëdita.
Thank you very much, Mr. President, for being here in Canada and before our committee. It is a particular honour for me to welcome you here because, as you know, in the crucial period of 2007 and 2008 I was seconded by the Government of Canada to be part of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, as an adviser to the Assembly of Kosovo and to the nascent democratic institutions that were being established there.
I am very impressed with how far Kosovo has come in those institutions in terms of ensuring that they are pluralistic, gender-balanced, multi-ethnic, and independent. We've seen that progress, and you've outlined some of it today.
I was also extremely happy yesterday to see you come and lay a bouquet at the peacekeeping monument. As we know, Canadian peacekeepers have been around the world. In seeing the progress that Kosovo is making, we see the value and the reason Canadian peacekeepers go to other countries and promote that kind of peace, so thank you for being there yesterday.
Ten years ago, almost to this month, I led a study visit to Canada from Kosovo to come and look at our Parliament and our public service tribunal, and to look at how the pluralistic institutions operated here in Canada, independent from political interference. I know that many of the lessons from that were implemented in Kosovo.
I would be very interested to hear from you how Kosovo has developed in terms of its institutions, both in the parliament and in oversight institutions and the public service. I know that Kosovo has a very professional and independent public service, with very many talented young people in it. If you could, please tell us a bit about how those institutions are progressing.