TIRANA, Oct. 13, 2022 – Anthony Rota, the speaker of Canada’s parliament, the House of Commons, addressed the Albanian parliament on Thursday, focusing on cooperation between the two countries at the global stage — in NATO and the UN — in bilateral agreements and the contributions Albanians have made to Canada, where an ever-growing Albanian-Canadian community lives.
As Speaker Rota noted in his remarks, November is the Albanian Heritage Month in his home province of Ontario, featuring events every year promoting Albanian culture and history in Canada’s largest federal entity.
“After the warm welcome I received in Albania, these celebrations will take on a new meaning,” Rota said.
Albania and Canada established diplomatic relations in 1987, and Speaker Rota’s two-day visit to Albania was in part scheduled to mark 35 years of official relations.
“Today, relations between the two countries continue to flourish. As a nation we are happy to have more than 35,000 Albanians in Canada and we have the Friendship Group in the Canadian Parliament to strengthen our relations,” Rota said at a press conference on Wednesday, following a meeting with his Albanian counterpart, Lindita Nikolla.
Speaker Nikolla said Albania was grateful to Canada for joining other allies like the United States and the United Kingdom in strongly condemning the recent Iranian cyberattacks on Albania.
She also said Tirana appreciated the ratification of the Agreement on Social Security, which entered into force on August 1, 2022, as well as the acceptance of Albania’s proposal by the Canadians to start negotiations on a bilateral agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion.
“Albania and Canada share the same positions on international developments, in the UN, NATO in relation to peace, security, the protection of human rights, as well as the condemnation of Russia’s aggression and support for Ukraine,” Speaker Nikolla said, adding: “The Albanian diaspora in Canada is a powerful link between the two countries.”
