By Boaz Rodkin, Former Ambassador of Israel to Albania

It was a great honour for me to represent Israel in Albania for four years, between 2015 to 2019.

My tenure in Albania has been interesting, exciting and above all very satisfying .

I was very much encouraged by the large numbers of friends of Israel whom I met in virtually all walks of life.

My colleagues at the Embassy and myself have tried to build new bridges, to widen the dialogue with all parts of the Albanian society. This process was sometimes complicated but to a large extent it was a successful one.

I believe that the word “Israel” in Albania is to a large extent connected with the democratic, pluralistic, dynamic and flourishing nature of our country. Israel in Albania is the “Start-up nation”, a center of creativity and innovation in the fields of science, research, advanced technologies and cultural creation.

I was very proud and honoured to be able to represent Israel in Albania. Despite being somewhat a challenging journey and sometimes even a difficult one, I left this beautiful country with a lot of satisfaction, optimism and with the feeling that the relations between our two countries were moving in the right direction and improving.