TIRANA, March 4 – Albanian senior diplomat Fatmir Cela was awarded from Austria with a top medal for his services.
On February 27, 2010, Director General of the Foreign Ministry Fatmir CELA was awarded with the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria, according to a statement.
Ambassador Cela received the decoration during a ceremony held at the residence of the Austrian Ambassador to Tirana Florian Raunig.
In his honorific speech Ambassador Raunig underlined both the excellent bilateral relations between Austria and Albania and Celaճ outstanding personal engagement he had shown to Austria whenever it became necessary during the past years.
Cela is a key diplomatic official with a long experience in the field. He has kept the post of ambassador in different countries during his almost three decades of experience.
Cela has also studied at the Vienna Academy of Diplomatic Research.
One also notes that the top diplomat has covered the country’s diplomacy since the former communist regime, during the transition period and now that the country has become a NATO member and is looking forward to also become a member of the European Union in the future.
The speech of H.E. Florian Raunig, Austrian Ambassador to Albania, during a ceremony where Mr. Fatmir Cela, General Director for Bilateral Relations at the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was awarded the High Gold Decoration for Merits by the Republic of Austria.
Tirana, February 27, 2010
When one has the privilege to be the representative of a country in another friendly country, one also has the privilege to start the speech by lauding the excellent relations between the two countries. This is true in the case of Austria and Albania.
The praise may well become a routine, and it is a pleasant and beautiful routine which I have all the intention to follow.
Indeed, it is a pleasant routine, but it also requires work. Because friendship needs care and friendship means work. First of all, for one’s self, but also for one’s friend. And friendship is mostly shown in difficult times. However, friendship also means facing hard times together, in order to achieve a common good.
Traditionally speaking, Austria has many friends in the Balkans and this makes us proud. Among them, Albania is a special friend. In the Balkans, as well as in Albania, the doors are always open for us. We can therefore not manage to walk through all of them. In Albania, we come with one voice and one focus and our objectives are taken seriously. In the same way, Austria tries to effectively support Albania in pursuing its own objectives. The common future in the European Union is worth mentioning here.
What do I mean by excellent relations and who are the people standing behind them? It is interests, groups, individuals. Ultimately, we are talking about people. These are single individuals, in groups or in institutions, who work everyday on these relations. Some because of the routine and some because of their excellence. There is the need for wonderful personalities, for their involvement, their foresight, and their courage, in order for such work on friendship to become a routine for the remaining majority.
Fatmir ȥla will be decorated for personal merits toward the Republic of Austria. He is one of those people who with their tireless work strongly care every day for the friendship of the two countries and fill it with life. He was worked relentlessly and in a special way regarding the objectives of Austria, but without bypassing the objectives of Albania and that distinguishes him as a loyal citizen to his country and as a master of his profession.
In a unique way he has managed to personally and professionally encourage the friendship between the two countries, something that is symbolically expressed with the award of this high decoration.
As a result, it is a great honor for me, not only as the Austrian Ambassador to Albania, but also on a personal level, to hand to General Director Fatmir ȥla the High Gold Decoration for Merits toward the Republic of Austria awarded by Mr. Federal President, and the congratulations message from Federal Minister of European and International Affairs.
