His mandate ended, EU Ambassador Silvio Gonzato leaves Albania: I will return without needing a passport

European Union Ambassador to Albania, Silvio Gonzato, concluded his three-year mandate at the helm of European diplomacy in our country yesterday. Gonzato departed from Albania yesterday via the Port of Durrës.

In a message posted on social media, Gonzato writes that our country has left him with unforgettable memories. He says he travelled across Albania, meeting smart, ambitious, and hardworking people along the way.

“I have seen the difficulties and challenges, but I have also seen the energy and determination that make me believe in Albania’s European future,” he emphasizes.

According to him, together with colleagues, he worked for Albania to be part of the EU, with a country of strong and independent institutions, where the rights of the most vulnerable are protected and respected.

He also writes that he will return to our country and hopes that “there will no longer be a need to show my passport to come to Albania.”

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“It seems like yesterday when I arrived at the Hani i Hotit border crossing and started my adventure in Albania. Three years later, my heart and soul are filled with memories of meeting extraordinary people.

I have travelled across Albania, from north to south, from west to east, meeting smart, ambitious, and hardworking people along the way. I have seen the difficulties and challenges, but I have also seen the energy and determination that make me believe in Albania’s European future.

Together with my fantastic colleagues, we have worked hard to respond to Albania’s desire ‘to be like the rest of Europe’, to be part of the European Union, in a country with strong and independent institutions, where the rights of the most vulnerable are protected and respected, where no one is left behind, and where diversity is welcomed and valued.

On Saturday, as I left the port of Durrës, I told myself: ‘I will return.’ And one day, there will no longer be a need to show my passport to come to Albania.

Until then — farewell, Albania,” Silvio Gonzato, Ambassador of the European Union to Albania.