Tirana’s 70th Liberation Day divides political spectrum

Unsanctioned display of Enver Hoxha photos at government celebration condemned by prime minister and opposition.
TIRANA, Nov. 17 – Celebrations for Tirana’s liberation from Nazi forces 70 years ago have been marked by political divisions and a controversy surrounding the unsanctioned display of Enver Hoxha photos at a government celebration by a group of communists, something that has been condemned by the leftist prime minister, center-right opposition and diplomatic circles.
As they do every year, the governing and opposition political groupings held separate ceremonies to commemorate the Nov. 17, 1944 event, which preceded the country’s liberation a couple of weeks later.
Leaders from the government, the parliament and the governing coalition political parties held their ceremonies Monday at the Unknown Soldier monument while the center-right main opposition Democratic Party held it a day earlier at the same place and on Monday laid wreaths at the country’s Nation’s Fallen Cemetery.
During the government’s ceremony Monday, photos and placards honoring the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha were displayed by a small group of communists. Their appearance visibly made Prime Minister Edi Rama unhappy, and he asked a personal aide to talk to the group to take down the photos.
Hoxha remains a reviled figure for the vast majority of Albanians, due to the crimes his communist regime committed on the country’s people.
However, Hoxha’s photos have appeared in recent leftist rallies and the opposition Democrats have accused the leftist coalition government of trying to rehabilitate Hoxha, a charge the prime minister denies.
On Monday, there was also a strong reaction by U.S. Ambassador Alexander Arvizu.
“Very unfortunate that photos of dictator Enver Hoxha marred today’s ceremony,” Arvizu said, calling it “an insult to Albanians.”
The photos in question were held by war veterans, and featured in an event organized by the prefecture of Tirana near the monument of the Unknown Soldier, where Rama and Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta were participating.
Democratic Party reacted immediately, stating that Tirana’s celebrations had been “muddied in a most shameful manner.”
That prime minister fired back in the afternoon.
“I regret that those who were uninvited, came as saboteurs in the crowd commemorating the liberation, to put up pictures of Enver Hoxha,” wrote Prime Minister Rama in his Facebook page, adding political opponents who use photos of Enver Hoxha for political attacks are fools. “Both groups belong in the past of this country, which has no time to lose with their foolishness.”
The Tirana events were a preamble of major celebrations expected as Albania marks the 70th anniversary of the country’s liberation on Nov. 29, which divides the political spectrum every year over the date.
The opposition Democrats had also moved the day from 29th to 28th when they were in power after the fall of communism in 1990. But that was reinstated when the leftists resumed power in 1997.
The 29th remains the official date of celebration, but at least one well-known historian, Bernd Fischer, who as studied the Nazis’ own records of leaving Albania notes the real liberation day was Dec. 4.