TIRANA, July 3 – Prime Minister Edi Rama honored on Monday the 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, with the “Star of Appreciation for Public Achievement”.
Former US President arrived in Albania on his first two-day visit (July 3-4, 2023) to this Balkan country on Monday afternoon.
In the motivation that accompanies the public recognition medal awarded to Clinton, it is stated: “For the invaluable contribution to Albania, Kosovo, and the entire Western Balkans, in their journey of freedom, democracy and prosperity, as well as in the creation of the inseparable link of the strategic alliance between our two countries.”
In his speech at the ceremony organized in front of the premier’s office which was attended by senior officials and citizens of Tirana, Rama said in his speech that Clinton was with Albanians all along with his words and deeds and today he was among them.
“There are no words that can adequately express the deep humility that I already feel in humbly asking you to accept the “Star of Appreciation for Public Achievement”, which is actually the highest award given by the office of the Prime Minister to someone who deserves this extraordinary gratitude from our country,” said Rama.
The PM said, among other things, that “Albania is the most pro-American country that can be found today” and that Clinton himself is “the most Albanian president that we could ever find in America.”
Further Rama said that Clinton ushered in the new era of Albania’s strategic partnership with the US. According to him, Clinton’s contribution to Albania was great.
“In support of Albania, President Clinton signed the creation of the American-Albanian fund and his government supported Albania not simply through various aid programs, but primarily by ushering in the new era of strategic partnership with the US, which was formalized with the historic partnership agreement some time ago,” said Rama.
According to the Albanian premier, Clinton has taught us to believe that there are only bad regimes and governments, never bad peoples. He said that if Clinton had not made the decision to intervene in Kosovo, no one knows what the future of the region would have been like.
“No one knows how the future of our region would have been without the gentleman who will speak shortly. It can be said without fear that the time that has flowed after that historic decision and until today could have been much more gloomy than we can imagine, not only for Kosovo and consequently all Albanians, but also for Serbia and consequently for all Serbs, the two largest nations of the Balkans,” said Rama. /argumentum.al
