By Dash Frashëri, publisher of “Tirana Diplomat”

Like today, 98 years ago, on August 2, 1923, Shimon Peres, President of Israel from 2007 to 2014, was born, one of the most popular and emblematic figures in the Jewish world. Shimon Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 and he is known worldwide as a symbol of peace and tolerance. He passed away on September 28, 2016.

Shimon Peres has also been twice Prime Minister of the country, several times Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of Transport, Minister of Immigration, Minister of Regional Cooperation, during the years 1969-2002.

Shimon Peres and Albania have many points of meeting. As Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres first visited Albania in 1994.

On November 21, 2011, the then Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, met with the President of Israel, Shimon Perez, in Jerusalem. The Prime Minister of Albania and the President of Israel stressed the positive spirit in the relations between the two countries. The two personalities shared the same mindset for strengthening relations between the two countries. Albania aims to expand relations in the field of agriculture, education, tourism, energy and technology. President Peres encouraged cooperation between Israel and Albania.

Six years ago, on December 24, 2015, during his visit to Israel, Prime Minister Edi Rama was received by Shimon Peres at the Peres Peace Center.

Expressing satisfaction that he received the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, former President Peres praised with admiration the recent changes made in Albania and the role and contribution of Prime Minister Rama in this regard.

“I know that Albania today is a completely different country, very different thanks to you, in the beginning as the most beloved mayor that Albania has ever had, and now as the most beloved prime minister that Albania has”, said Peres.

Prime Minister Rama presented the former Prime Minister Peres with the Medal of Gratitude of the Prime Minister. “For everything you are and represent, for the” wise “of Israel, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and, on behalf of the Albanian government and all those, if I may, who gathered here tonight, I hand over to you the Medal of Gratitude of the Prime Minister”, said Rama.

On June 29, 2016, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Ilir Meta paid a visit to the Israeli Embassy in Tirana to express his condolences on the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres. Meta was received by the Ambassador of Israel to our country, Boaz Rodkin, and then left a message in the Embassy Comfort Book.

“Shimon Peres was a great world leader, who inspired the efforts not only for peace in the Middle East, but also for world peace. On behalf of the Albanian Parliament, he expresses the strongest solidarity for his family, the Jewish people and the institutions of Israel, this important ally of Albania “, – Meta wrote, among other things, in his message of condolence.

On July 27, 2018, the Monument dedicated to former President Shimon Peres was inaugurated in Tirana. It is located in the middle of the square and at the intersection of “Kujtim Laro”, “Sadik Petrela” and “Xhanfize Keko” streets. The placement of the bust was an initiative of the Deputy Ambassador of Israel in Tirana, Yuvale Fischer, a request that was gladly accepted by the Mayor of Tirana, Mr. Erion Veliaj.

“The first Israeli Foreign Minister to visit Albania was my late father, Shimon Peres. I remember a very warm and enthusiastic conversation with him after the visit. Since then, our relations have been strengthened by reciprocal visits, one of which has been “to Prime Minister Berisha in 2011, and Prime Minister Edi Rama in 2015, while the father was President of Israel”, said in his speech Dr. Yonathan Peres, the son of the political personality, Shimon Peres.

“Albania and Israel have a lot in common. “Both countries have suffered for long periods of being ruled by other regimes.” Yonathan Peres who underlined that both states recovered and are now on the path of democracy, freedom, pluralism and innovation. He further recalled that after the Second World War, Albania was one of the countries that voted for the creation of the state of Israel and the two countries established the official relationship in the 1990s.