Events related to the centenary have taken place daily everywhere Albanians live.
TIRANA, PRISHTINA and VLORA Nov. 22, 2012 -The national colors, red and black, have come to dominate every corner Albania as the country prepares to celebrate 100 years of independence on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Thousands of flags and signs can be seen in both public and private spaces, in what is the largest showing of national pride since the fall of Communism.
Independence Day preparations dominate the media and events related to the centenary are taking place daily everywhere Albanians live. They are set to peak on Nov. 28, exactly 100 years after Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.
Among the most popular activities this week, was the return from Austria Monday of Skanderbeg’s original helmet and sword, which will be shown preserved and protected at the National Museum.
A week before Nov. 28, top Albanian officials and the U.S. Ambassador took part at the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson’s monument at the square bearing his name. U.S. Ambassador Alexander Arvizu, read some of his words from the speech held in 1918 which was decisive in not letting Albania’s neighbors split the country apart.
In Rome, Italy, a show of 150 archeological finds on loan from Albanian museums is on view at the capital’s Complesso del Vittoriano museum. The exhibit includes earthenware, furnishings, objects for daily use, helms and shields, coins, devotional statues and icons, dating from prehistory through the 17th century. Titled ‘Treasures of the Albanian Cultural Identity’, the show seeks to rediscover and promote the European component of Albanian culture.
It was inaugurated Tuesday by Albanian Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sport Aldo Bumci and Foreign Minister Edmond Panariti, and by Italian Minister of Culture Lorenzo Ornaghi.
In Prishtina, Kosovo on Monday, a 12-meter silk Albanian national flag was put to replace the Kosovo national flag on a special pole at the main south gates of Prishtina. Albania’s and Kosovo’s national flags are raised side by side over governmental, public and private buildings, over streets and shops, decorating public transport vehicles, taxis and private automobiles.
In Tirana, the Kosovo Embassy held a conference on Kosovo’s role in the foundation of the Albanian state. Both Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama praised Kosovo’s historical role.
“Without Kosovo the 100th anniversary celebrations would be incomplete. It is time to reveal the historical truths,” said Berisha. “Kosovo’s role in the foundation of the Albanian state and its follow up has been great. The Albanian national idea was born in Prizren and Kosovo became the cradle of the consolidation and development of the Albanian national ideal and effort. The Berlin Congress left a nation with a large geographical coverage in the Balkans without a state, but the national movements in Kosovo responded deservedly to the attitudes of The Porte and the Balkan monarchies.”
Rama said that nowadays Kosovo and Albania have an opportunity to establish a national strategy that transcends borders that will serve to heal the wounds from the past and cope with the challenges that will follow from the unification of the two countries within the EU.
Macedonia will also be covered in red and black by 28 November, according to local Albanian politicians there. Two young Albanians from Struga unfolded an Albanian flag 10-meterunderwater in Lake Ohrid.
After a ceremony held in Skopje, Macedonia next week, the independence ceremonies will continue in Kosovo that will inaugurate a new highway linking the two countries.
This Tuesday both governments also inaugurated the digital link between the two countries.
And the ceremony for the independence day continues Nov. 27 in Vlora, where the flag wasraised 100 years ago.
The pre-day ceremony has found some frictions among the political groupings in the country with the opposition claiming that the main ceremonies need to be held there, in Vlora and not in capital Tirana. The government, on its side, says that after the flag is raised formally in Vlora Nov. 28, they will move with other ceremonies in capital Tirana where the big cake (expecting to enter in the Guinness world records book) and the baked meat expects the people, before the military hold a parade in the afternoon.
Concerts and other festivities will continue in Vlora, organized by the local authorities.
