Madam Chair, I'll try to respond in French. Hopefully you have the interpretation.
I want to thank Ms. Vandenbeld and the subcommittee again for the opportunity to speak with you. We're very honoured to be joined by the former president and to have the chance to speak with you. I also want to thank you for asking how Canada could support Kosovo.
Kosovo is grateful for everything that Canada has done for it. As the former president said, Canada stood up for human values and human rights. Canada supported Kosovo and recognized its independence. Up until now, Canada has been strengthening Kosovo's institutions, including at the international level. As a result of the support of Canada and its democratic partner countries, today Kosovo takes pride in being a multi-ethnic society that promotes and protects the same values.
Canada can help us promote gender equality and improve the situation of women. The former president said that there has been some progress.
We also hope to take further action with regard to missing persons, which is a key issue. Today, we still don't know what happened to 1,600 people. Our neighbour to the north, Serbia, is not co-operating sufficiently in this regard. We hope that the subcommittee will inform the Canadian authorities in order to move this issue forward.
Canada could do something else to help us. We see Canada as a model of diversity. Canada has the values of a multi-ethnic society. Unfortunately, our neighbour to the north is pressuring Serbian members of Kosovo's institutions to leave the institutions. Recently, when members of the Kosovo security force went to Serbia for family reasons, for example, the Serbian authorities exerted pressure and even made arrests, in order to discourage them from being members of Kosovo's institutions. We also need Canada to defend the values of a multi-ethnic society and our shared values.
Thank you for your attention.