By Dash Frashëri, publisher of TiranaDiplomat.com

“Give the red and black “Albanian” passport to Yuri Kim! She deserves!”

From the very first moment when Yuri Kim was sworn in as the new Ambassador of the United States of America to Albania, on January 9, 2020, she fell in “love” with the “Land of Eagles”. A love that he showed repeatedly, winning the hearts of Albanians, from high officials to ordinary people.

Immediately after handing over the Credentials to the President of the Republic (Ilir Meta) and the courtesy meetings with the Prime Minister (Edi Rama) and the Speaker of the Parliament (Gramoz Ruci), the American top diplomat started “the process of her Albanianization”.

A visit on the occasion of World Red Cross Day, an activity with children organized by UNICEF and a drawing lesson for students, was Yuri Kim’s first impact with “Social Albania”.

Kim was clear. As a diplomat and moreover the chief diplomat of the most powerful state in the world, knowing the reality of a country does not begin and end in bureaucratic offices, but in everyday life and sharing thoughts with ordinary citizens.

“Dear Albanian friends, let’s connect. This is my official Twitter account. See you soon!”, Ambassador Yuri Kim wrote.

Kim knew well the power of communication through social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or online conversations through the “Zoom” platform, from where he received direct messages and perhaps even different from cold official meetings.

A visit to a hospital, another on a military ship or a speech at the Tirana Memorial dedicated to the rescue of Jews in Albania, an investment by the US Embassy.

Kim – like the other American ambassadors before her, Withers, Arvizu or Lu – feels very comfortable in the Albanian capital. He feels the love of the Albanians for him. It’s funny. Welcomed: in Tirana or Vlora.

Her impressions are extraordinary, the messages she writes are beautiful.

Actions with a social character give him the opportunity to send even coded messages, while collecting garbage by the sea, or cleaning elsewhere.

Ambassador Yuri Kim has shown her utmost respect, honoring the victims of communism. She has visited Spaçi prison, the infamous Tepelena camp or the memorial dedicated to the victims executed in the former Maliq swamp.

Ambassador Yuri Kim distributes American aid, donated to Albania during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Albanian music performed by young Albanian talents has always attracted her, but even a boat trip gives her a special pleasure, or a visit to the tangerine plantation in Xarre, Delvina.

The free Albanian life has made it for herself. She is an ambassador who is not ashamed to pull the rope to pull the tires from the Osum River in Berat, in the company of men, or even to collect olives with the farmers in the villages.

The history of Albania, old maps, visits to the National Library gives her special pleasure.

Take part in social activities to promote the fight against breast cancer, organized by the Ministry of Health within the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or donate blood.

Meetings with ordinary and random people have become a permanent routine for the American ambassador, from where she gets her impressions.

The Embassy of the United States is proud to support the 17th Annual International Human Rights Film Festival in Albania (IHRFFA) with the screening of the film “Selma”. The film is an account of the campaign of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for equality – especially voting rights – by organizing a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Yuri Kim was personally involved in welcoming the Afghan refugees who came to Albania, after the Taliban came to power, showing another great side of her.

Ambassador Yuri Kim, along with US Sports Envoys, American professional basketball player Kirby Burkholder and NBA legend Sam Perkins met with 60 girls participating in the basketball program “Her World, Her Rules “. The program brings together Albanian girls across the country to promote basketball and girl empowerment. The girls also heard inspiring messages from the Albanian Olympic athlete and European champion Luiza Gega, the national basketball players Migena Plasa and Gera Bujari.

The wonderful flavors of Albanian and American cuisine were blended together as American guest chef Tiffany Derry prepared a dinner together with Albanian chefs Sokol Prenga, Gezim Musliaka and Armond Kikino. Kim joined chefs, agribusiness owners and supporters of Albanian food and wine to enjoy dinner and discuss how food can empower communities.

“When an Albanian or Albanians give you their word, you can rely on that word without any doubt. “Albanian’s home is God’s and friend’s.” But I want more people, Americans in particular, to hear how some residents of an Albanian village helped 30 American nurses and doctors in 1943 when their plane crashed in Nazi-controlled Albania. What a dramatic episode! Despite the risk to their lives, villagers in Belsh, the area where the plane crashed, hid the Americans, taking them from house to house so they could escape. It was an honor to visit the home of the Zena family yesterday in Merhoje, Belsh, and to hear from Mehmet how his father, Dane, and grandfather, Maks, sheltered the Americans for a month. Their family even slaughtered a calf to feed the guests. Thanks to people like the Zena family, Americans were able to get out alive. God bless the Albanian people for the code of honor and hospitality. We are forever grateful to you,” writes the US ambassador, Yuri Kim.

Ambassador Yuri Kim likes music, be it American or Albanian. Yes, but can she sing? Or she is more attracted to robotics?

As a top American diplomat, she knows very well the religious harmony in Albania and has respected all faiths in the country.

The American ambassador is very active in social life in the country. Participate and deliver important messages.

“A wise woman does not want to be anyone’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim”, writes the American poet Maya Angelou.

Thank you Ambassador Yuri Kim!

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Tirana, April 26, 2023