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| Edi Rama's speech on the occasion of US-Albania relations |
In marking the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the USA and Albania, Rama said that the history of relations between Albania and America is unparalleled.
"Unlike all other countries, without any exception, a history unlike anything else has entered into this relationship, which has also determined this level and depth of our relationship with the USA. We are here today for the 100th anniversary because, on July 28, 1922, the official document arrived at the Foreign Ministry informing the Albanian government that the USA recognizes the Albanian government", he said.
Rama emphasized that the Albanian state would probably not even exist if it did not have the support of America.
"The United States in Albania is in their home, because this is what the Albanians have decided and because this is how this whole road has loved, where you saw the voice of the United States of America in that year when Fan Noli humbly prayed to President Wilson, Albania maybe it wouldn't exist", he said.
Rama also spoke about the period of isolation of communist Albania from the United States of America and the democratic world. He emphasized that it was precisely communism and the communist leader Enver Hoxha that pushed Albanians to love America even more.
"In a way, Enver Hoxha is the man who has worked harder than all of us for this day that we are here. He has worked for half a century to return to Albania and to turn Albanians into the most ardent lovers of the USA. All that the communist regime did to wash the Albanians from the USA was translated into the transition of the Albanians to the other extreme", he emphasized.
Rama has assessed the support of today's days of the United States of America for Albania as irreplaceable. He said that Albania would not be what it is today, without the support of the United States of America.
"If we were to imagine for a single moment the journey of these 30 years without the United States of America, even though we could have freedom and we could have opened the way to build democracy, we can guess what it was Albania today - everything else, but not a country where a deep reform in justice is taking place, everything else, but not a country where the daily effort to separate from the past continues", he said.
Rama has also emphasized that there is no anti-American political force in Albania, despite the critical attitude of a part of the opposition towards the American policy in Albania.
"The good thing is that in our country there is no possible anti-American force. And even when there is malice, even when there is a sense of revenge, not against the US but against US policy, it manifests itself in the form of a love contest of who loves America more. Even to the point that we love America more than the American ambassadors", he said.
Rama also spoke about the current developments in the Balkans and Albania's position in this context. He once again affirmed the "Open Balkans" regional initiative, for which he said that he also has the full support of the United States of America.
"We will change the region and with the 'Open Balkans', which is a project 100 percent agreed and 100 percent supported by the United States of America, we will make it possible that the past, which continues to be a threat even today, to never be a threat to the Balkans, but to be only a treasure of knowledge and lessons on how history should not be repeated", Rama emphasized.