Kadare says Bush’s visit is the greatest event in Albania’s history

TIRANA, June 4 – Albanian writer Ismail Kadare, a frequent Nobel-prize candidate for more than a decade, said that U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit is the greatest event to occur in Albania’s history.
“It is a more than historic visit, the greatest event that has happened in the history of the Albanian nation,” said Kadare in an interview to Voice of America in Albanian.
Bush is to visit Albania next Sunday.
Since the fall of communism, the Albanian people have expressed a great live and hope for the United States, he said. That was made through the people’s intuition, despite the isolation of this former communist regime.
“Albnania’s link with the Untied States is very deep, it is not purely political or due to situations,” he said.
“To Albanians, the United States is the main pillar of western civilization, I would add of the endangered western civilization. In declaring friendship to the American country Albania declares its affiliation to this civilization.”
Kadare said that the Albanian people have not been swayed by the reaction from other countries in its total support to the States’ war on global terror. “Albania has joined that front because this western alliance, civilization, is Albanians’ natural family.”
Kadare also criticized the country’s poltics which has created such a poor image of the country. He said Albania’s political community was not formed from gangsters and prostitutes, an often stated belief which he considered as an alabi but, rather, from the “low level of the Albanian poltics.”
“The machine of Albanian poltics is rotten, backward, it is rotten from hatred… Those people have a govenment they do not deserve. Albania deserves much more,” he said, adding that was proved by Bush’s visit.
Kadare said that Bush’s visit to Albania would give the message that the Balkans is important to Europe, for peace and stability in Europe, and that Albania was important to the Balkans.
“We should welcome the American president with love and clapping hands and that is normal. But we should not forget that we should understand what he is coming for. He is the friend of the Albanian nation, the greatest friend who has come here until nowadays. In other words, he is the friend of our liberty and hope.”