UN General Assembly
2011

As a representative of a country that only 20 years ago brought down the Hoxhaist dictatorship — the worst that Albania and Europe had ever known — I would like to cordially welcome and salute the representatives of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, South Sudan and Ivory Coast who are present at this Assembly session. Today, we pay tribute to the thousands of citizens of those countries who with great courage and legendary bravery lost their lives in order to liberate their countries from ruthless tyrannies and who made their countries, the African continent and the entire world more free and more just than ever. With their sacrifices, however, those who fought and fell in the name of freedom have delivered a sacred message to the very hearts and minds of all oppressed people on our planet: Be not afraid! On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the communist dictatorship, despite the unquestionable difficulties inherent in building a democracy based on market values, Albania has continuously affirmed that for the individual, our society and our nation as a