Mr. Speaker, this year, Canada and Kosovo celebrate multiple anniversaries together. As we have just celebrated the 70th anniversary of NATO, it is worth remembering that 20 years ago, we started the most successful humanitarian intervention of NATO, in which Canada had a crucial role among our other allies, to liberate and stop the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It was Canadian foreign policy based in human security, and it paved the way for the responsibility to protect. Twenty years ago, we opened the doors and airlifted 7,000 Kosovo-Albanian refugees. Today they are an integral part of our Canadian society.
On April 7, we celebrated a decade of diplomatic relations with Kosovo. As chair of the Canada-Kosovo Parliamentary Friendship Group, I would like to extend my best wishes to our Kosovar friends and commend the embassy of Kosovo for its dynamic efforts to strengthen our diplomatic relations.