TIRANA – “We will mark one of the main dates of the common history of the people of Russia and Albania in July – the 30th anniversary of the re-establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries,” said Russian Ambassador to Tirana Mikhail Afanasiev in a message addressed on the occasion of the Russia Day on Friday.
Russia Day is celebrated annually, on June 12. This day in 1990 marked the beginning of the contemporary history of the Russian Federation, when the first Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia accepted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) proclaiming the supremacy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the supremacy of its laws. In 1992, the Supreme Soviet of Russia proclaimed June 12 as a national holiday. Under a subsequent presidential decree on June 16, 1998, the holiday was officially named “Russia Day”. In 2002, the new Labor Code gave its official seal to this title.
“This Day symbolized a new and reinvigorated Russia, a modern state having a dynamic development, centurial history, unique culture, great scientific discoveries, victories in the military and professional field, and an independent multi-vectorial foreign policy,” said the Ambassador, adding that Russians connect their future expectations for prosperity of the fatherland with this Day. According to him, this holiday permits Russians to feel included in the past, the present and the future of the fatherland.
Ambassador Afanasiev felt reluctant that the epidemiological situation did not allow for the annual reception to meet personally with his compatriots and Albanian friends and celebrate together this wonderful holiday. He wished the Russian compatriots and friends successes in all their works, and progress and prosperity to the Albanian people.
Touching upon the 30th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Russian-Albanian diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Ambassador said that Moscow and Tirana have accumulated a considerable potential for cooperation in different fields and have created the basis of further continuity over the last 30 years.
He expressed the conviction that despite difficulties and contradictions of the current international situation, the two countries will maintain the predisposition for the further development of the entire complex of the bilateral relations based on pragmatism, good understanding and mutual respect for their interests.
“We are open for useful mutual cooperation and we do not refuse it in any circumstances,” said Ambassador Afanasiev. /argumentum.al
