Berisha: Grateful to the Albanian community in Bucharest
19/10/2012 00:00
Linda Rama: Between Family, Work and Albania’s Future 18/08 14:30
No other country in the last 100 years has more symbols of Albania’s
independence than Romania, which has a strong Albanian community who
have entered the history of Albania as the most active patriots when
Albania declared the independence.
In presence of famous Albanian and Romanian personalities, Prime Minister Berisha attended an impressive ceremony at the Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholai, in the centre of Brussels. This church was left at the disposal of the Albanian Orthodox Community for more than three decades, until 1945. In this church the Albanians of Romania have celebrated for years Albania’s Independence Day, and this is where the founder of the Albanian Autocephalous church, Fan Noli, held a mass in Albanian in 1912.
This history was repeated during the mess held in presence of Prime Minister Berisha, the Mayor of Bucharest, the former Romanian President, Ion Iliesku and other representatives pf the old families, members of the delegation of the Albanian Community in Romania, who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Grateful to the patriotism of the Albanian community in Bucharest and for the support of the Romanian government of that time, Berisha brought back the most important historical facts that are related to Albania’s independence and their symbols.
“Here were printed the first ABC books in Albanian. Here was sung for the first time the hymn of my country, the national hymn that is still sang today, since 1912. The Prime Minister of Romania in that time, Take Ionescu, was the first Prime Minister that contributed with a considerable amount of money in the budget of the first Albanian government. Your country was the first that recognized Albania’s independence. In this blessed city, the Albanian community played a determining role in Albania’s declaration of independence by Ismail Qemali”, Berisha declared.
In another symbolic act, after the mass at Saint Nicholai, the Albanian Embassy in Romania and the Mayor of Bucharest organized a reception at the Grand Hotel Continental. A memorial plate that commemorates that 100 years ago, Ismail Qemali was accommodated in this hotel and after discussing with the Albanian community in Bucharest about the independence declaration, he travelled to Albania to crown this act in Vlore, on 28 November 1912.
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