Prime Minister Albin Kurti congratulated the United States of America on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence through a public post.
In his message, he highlighted the historical weight of July 4, as well as the universal ideals of freedom, equality and inalienable rights on which the American state was founded, “Bota sot” reports.
Të lidhura
None found
Kurti also praised the historic contribution of the US to Albanians, mentioning the protection President Woodrow Wilson gave to Albania after World War I and President George W. Bush’s declaration on Kosovo’s independence.
In conclusion, he congratulated American citizens on this jubilee, expressing gratitude for their friendship and support for Albanians.
Full post
When a declaration of independence is viewed as a historical event, it is always connected to a specific time and place. It is precisely for this reason that today we mark the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, because on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the 13 colonies of Great Britain, after meetings held in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, placed the final signature on the Declaration of Independence. On that historic date, a new state came to life: the United States of America.
However, the significance of the US Declaration of Independence is not limited only to the day and place of its adoption. At its core lies a special weight: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Relying on these principles and universal rights, which are limited neither by time nor by space, what is today known as the “Spirit of ’76” has not only survived, but has continued to live powerfully in the minds and hearts of patriots of every era and every nation.
This is especially true for Albanians. On July 4, 1918, 108 years ago, on the 142nd anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, Fan Noli, as a representative of the Albanian federation “Vatra”, exchanged a few words with President Woodrow Wilson. On the presidential yacht U.S.S. Mayflower, during the return to Washington DC from Mount Vernon, where festive tributes had been paid at the grave of George Washington, Noli took the opportunity to tell the twenty-eighth American president that the implementation of his principles of self-determination would secure Albania its rights. President Wilson replied to our erudite Renaissance figure by assuring him that those principles would prevail, because the US would fight for them. London Albania, as we Albanians call it, was saved after World War I also thanks to the principles embodied in the peace plan known as “Wilson’s 14 Points”.
Less than a century later, those same principles so eloquently defended in the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 would once again be called upon by our movement for independence. The right of the people of Kosovo to self-determination, sacrificed at the beginning of the 20th century in the geopolitical games of the Great Powers, would at the end of that century and the beginning of the following one receive its most significant support precisely from the United States of America. June 10, 2007, the day George W. Bush declared in Tirana, “Sooner rather than later, you’ve got to say enough is enough, Kosovo is independent,” remains one of the most important dates in our recent history of state-building. Thus, within nearly a century, from London Albania to independent Kosovo, Albanian efforts for self-determination twice received decisive support from the American nation, which 250 years ago proclaimed its own founding by referring to the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The text of the United States Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776, sealed the will that the delegates of the State House in Philadelphia had expressed two days earlier, on July 2. Although it was drafted in haste, mainly by Thomas Jefferson, and under the pressure of the developments of that time, it became the symbol of a new era in the history of political thought. The notion of inalienable rights, which stands at the foundation of this declaration, continues to remain radical even today. By these inalienable rights, the founding fathers of the American nation understood those rights that could not be alienated even with the consent of their own holders. Even today, guaranteeing these rights for every human being without distinction remains a civilizational duty for all humanity.
With best wishes for a bright future for the American nation, happy July 4th, happy 250th anniversary of the United States of America!
