Dutch Colonel Thomson commemorated in Durres

TIRANA, June 25 – Colonel Lodewijk Thomson and 100th anniversary of the first Dutch Peacekeeping Mission have been commemorated in Durres, where a bronze copy of Thomson monument has been showcasing for more than a decade in honour of the Colonel who was killed while on a peace-keeping mission in the newly created Albanian independent state.
In honour and respect of the Dutch Military Mission and the distinguished Colonel Thomson, Prime Minister Edi Rama, Minister of Culture Mirela Kumbaro, former Ambassador of Albania to the Netherlands Qirjako Qirko, Mayor Vangjush Dako, Ambassador Martin de la Beij, Friends of Thomson Association and other representatives of central and local government paid tribute to the monument of Colonel Lodewijk Thomson – honouring the Dutch mission for their outstanding contribution and activism in establishing peace and order in Albania.
In 2003, a bronze copy of Thomson monument arrived from Groningen and was placed at “Thomson” street in Durr쳬 where he has been a honorary citizen since 2000.
Upon request of the international community, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands assigned through a Royal decree of 24 February 1914, fifteen officers to the service of Albanian Gendarmerie, giving them a high military rank. This troop would constitute the Dutch Military Mission as a Peacekeeping Mission in Albania and the first peacekeeping mission in Europe.
Exactly 100 years ago, at the battle of 15 June 1914, Colonel Thomson was killed together with other 40 Albanian captains and soldiers. The outstanding writer and diplomat of that time Faik Konica named Thomson at his funeral “a hero, a firm defender of Albania and a liberation martyr.”