Defense Minister at the Conference of the Veterans of Antifascist National Liberation War (ANLW), Elbasan

Published: Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:15

Photogallery

The 18th Conference of the Veterans of National Liberation War for Elbasan District took place at the premises of “Skampa” theater in Elbasan. Defense Minister, Mimi Kodheli, the member of Parliament from the Socialist Party, Mrs. Evis Kushi, Prefect of the District, Arben Kamani, veterans as well as many other guests were present in this event.

In her welcoming address at this conference, after expressing her thanks to the participants and the organizers of this conference, Defense Minister, Mrs. Mimi Kodheli, said: "As Defense Minister of Albania, but also as a citizen of this country, I bow respectfully down in front of you whenever I will have the opportunity to do this publicly or not because You are not only the real memory of what happened, but you are the inspiration, the uplift of what will happen in the future to our children and to this country.”

Albania, continued Mrs. Kodheli, should curtsy to your contribution, to the deed of those who we just honored by holding a minute of silence, and those who can no longer utter any words, but can speak through their contribution. Without their sacrifice, their labor, their lives we could not even enjoy the democracy we have nowadays.

Focusing on the importance of National Liberation War, Minister Kodheli stressed: "Many people today try to profane the history of this war, try to transform it, alter it, someone tries to consider it as non-existent, others try to pollute it with stories and events without any value at all, when actually it is a war glorified by the Albanian people and not by politics and it will remain so, history books will continue to write about it as it really was, a war for the liberation of people, who has suffered for centuries for this freedom and was able to win it once and forever at the distant time of November ‘44."

Minister Kodheli stressed that freedom is not only liberation from foreign invaders, freedom is the right of speech, the right to believe, the right to think differently, the right of being represented, so it is much more than the right to live without being invaded. Certainly, we had to wait for many more decades to learn this and today with the system that we have tried to set up we think we are on the right path. "It is this system that will help us expand the boundaries of freedom, but this is a never-ending struggle. Even more developed and advanced countries and older democracies struggle for freedom every day, for freedom is like a star that shines brightly but is far away, so to get closer it there are many roads and a lot of hardships. However, there is no doubt that it were you who opened this path to us. You, who are still the living story of what happened before 1944 and during the National Liberation War."

"I'm here to assure you that you have been and will continue to be the focus of the attention of the Government and the Socialist Party; you have not been and will never be away from the attention of people like me who has grown up with stories of a fighter and partisan grandfather. This has certainly made me a better citizen, has made me love my homeland more, and has made me sing the anthem of the flag more beautifully, has made me work harder for the benefit of the country."

Minister of Defense, Mrs. Mimi Kodheli also commented on the latest political situation in the country, expressing optimism about the resolution of the crisis. "I want to assure you that the Albanian Government will do its utmost to solve the nowadays artificial political gridlock and create a normal situation, for as we will continue to respect the Constitution and the laws of this country on which every democratic state is established, we will do the same by respecting all those who think differently, for this is the freedom for which you present here today fought, for which those who lie in the Martyrs Cemetery and not only fought, because these are the aspirations of the work and efforts of my generation to have a fairer, better, happier, with more freedom and more prosperous Albania and with a safer future. "
The conference also discussed about how to the increase the role of veterans, the issue of ownership of the house where the Labinot Conference was held, as well as the program of activities for the rest of the year.