The Speaker of the Assembly, Elisa Spiropali, laid a wreath and saluted at the ceremony of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Tirana.
In her speech, Mayor Spiropali stated that European Albania has its roots in anti-fascist Albania, while emphasizing that the Liberation of Tirana is a glorious prelude to the Albanian anti-fascist war.
So she said that Albania is aligned today on the right side of history, choosing light over darkness, right before wild force, freedom and sacrifice for freedom based on the best values of humanity.
Spiropal's full speech:
History is more than a date and more than an act! Judged as a photograph taken in a cast, history remains only as perception and not as a file where mutually exclusive truths often coexist, where what looks good from one angle is evil from another angle, what is triumph for one, it is defeat for the other.
80 years have passed since the distant day of November 17, 1944 when proud partisans and nationalist patriots, girls and boys with faith in the future emerging from the ruins of the old, drove the German Nazis from our capital. That day was a glorious prelude to the Albanian anti-fascist war as it was happening everywhere in Europe and elsewhere, an act of the expected victory of the historic international coalition against Nazi-fascism.
Endless honor and gratitude to those sons and daughters of this country who dedicated themselves to the dream of a free and independent Albania, united without distinction of religion, region or idea, just like their peers everywhere in Europe and the world, united in the fight against the Nazi-fascist plague that threatened the very core of human civilization.
Eternal glory to all those who in those dark days had the vision to be enlightened by the great truth of the struggle for freedom and turned into barricades, as happened here on the road of Barricades 80 years ago to say no to occupation , not to captivity, not to the foreign hoof!
From those epic days, the chronicles of the time, the mutilations in the two symbols of our city: the clock tower and the minaret of the Ethem Bey mosque, proved that the new hope was being realized over the old ruins.
Meanwhile, unfortunately, the specter of a new wall was creeping closer to Europe. Like a black curtain to divide it from north to south, from east to west into two hostile worlds.
The evil lot made Albania remain on the wrong side of that curtain.
Some of the heroes betrayed faith and hope; a part of the Albanians made Albania a prison for other Albanians, starting the endless human dramas and tragedies with at least three generations who played in the great theater of life, the great prison, where the same prisoners remained and the guards themselves!
But the essence of the war cannot be changed by any hero turned traitor or traitor trying to become a hero. Back then, the choice of fighting camp was a choice that separated two worlds. Albania unequivocally joined the powerful anti-fascist alliance following the infallible compass dictated by patriotic morality and duty to the motherland.
Anti-fascism is one of the greatest values of European civilization of the recent past and one of the most solemn guarantees of the future.
The fight for Tirana and the liberation of all Albania is a historical testament, a moral compass for the orientation of the Albanian society to make the right choices in these times of dramatic series for humanity. Today, Albania has lined up on the right side of history, choosing light over darkness, right before wild force, freedom and sacrifice for freedom based on the best values of humanity.
European Albania, to which we have committed ourselves with the promise that in a few years we will make it a member of the European Union, is undoubtedly part of this historical testament with its roots in anti-fascist Albania.
Glory to martyrs and martyrs! Glory to those who loved Albania more than themselves and everything else.