Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at inauguration of the new school in the village of Qesarake, Tirana, named after the Martyr of the Nation Klodian Tanushi, and where 600 pupils will be taught in decent education conditions:

 

I am very glad to be here today alongside the family members of the late martyr Klodian Tanushi, namely his father, his spouse and children, to whom nothing can return their beloved father and nothing can fill the great void of his absence, but at least with through gesture we show them that the sublime sacrifice of the son, the husband, and the father now resides in our national memory and to the continuity of the message of a life lost serving the motherland and for all these schoolchildren who will now know Klodian and the fact that he was the son of a very humble family consisting of two parents and that fact actually made the difference precisely by living up to the duty to the homeland.

It is perhaps the right moment to reflect over the need for the schoolchildren in all schools all over the country to be taught and learn about the lives of people who have sacrificed their own lives and the schools these children now attend are named after these martyrs. These individuals have set excellent examples for the whole society and the younger generations to be inspired from their lives. They are martyrs of the nation, heroes, protagonists and prominent arts and cultural life, patriotic efforts and not necessarily all fallen in the line of duty, but they are all distinguished people who have remarkably dedicated their lives to our nation and our homeland.

On the other hand, I would also like to acknowledge that I feel glad that the post-earthquake reconstruction of new schools, not only in Tirana, but throughout Albania is delivering on the great and fundamental change.

We are all being through very tough and challenging times and unfortunately enough this is the third consecutive time we are facing a situation triggered by circumstances we have no control over and not only this is the third situation in a row, but it is the toughest one to cope with, because the earthquake, although unfortunately killed dozens of people and destroyed the homes of thousands families, but the rest remained intact and was not unaffected at all. Of course we had to alter our development plans, we were forced to divert and reallocate funds earmarked for important development projects in a bid for us to help those who became homeless and who are now gradually witnessing and bearing the fruits of this huge ongoing effort. And then came the pandemic that threatened everyone, but still it didn’t affect the largest part of the population. This is the third one, namely the war, about which, those who don’t serve this country’s interest, who do not serve this country’s people, but instead serve others’ interests, claim this war has nothing to do with Albania. The opposite is true. It affects Albania a lot.  This war has a lot to do with Albania, exactly because Albania is closely related to the Euro-Atlantic community and this war was prepared and was launched not merely to bomb and destroy Ukraine, but to bring the Euro-Atlantic community to its knees by resorting to the use of energy and inflation as a weapon.

The war-driven inflation affects everyone. It affects every consumer anytime they put their hands into their pockets to buy something; it is the inflation’s “hand” demanding its share.

Prior to coming here, I had a meeting with the representatives of a political party in North Macedonia, who admitted that their bills have seen a fourfold increase, including energy and other commodities in this neighbouring country.

Having said these, since Erion touched upon it, it is unimaginable and I have to reinforce Erion’s message, since we are here to commemorate and celebrate a martyr, we are here to celebrate a purposeful message conveyed by someone who sacrificed his own life for the homeland, whereas today, amid these very challenging and difficult conditions, not the university lecturers and professors, but a group within a much larger ensemble than that, a minority headed by a former intelligence service official, who has usurped the so-called union of the of academic workers at public universities to issue ultimatums that a hunger strike would begin, should their salaries are not to be increased. Hunger strikes over wages are staged only by people who have no fatherland, no flag and no religion. Hunger strikes over the wages are not staged by the parents of all of these, the overwhelming majority of whom definitely earn less income than the ex-intelligence officer, who receives orders from the mud throwers. A hunger strike is a very high institution through which one fights for very fundamental rights and not over the monthly wages, moreover given the fact that the university lecturers and academic workers have actually been granted the highest pay rise most recently.

However, I reiterate that this group does not represent the majority of the university lecturers and professors and in no way can they do so, because if they were to represent the majority we would have been really alarmed. We would have been really more alarmed than for the war-triggered inflation, more alarmed than for the global energy price crisis. However, fortunately they do not represent the majority and I am really sorry for being forced to comment on this issue at this event, but on the other hand I feel really great that we are provided this opportunity by the example of a young man, whose wage was much lower than the wage of that former intelligence service officer, who threatens to stage a hunger strike just to serve those that are of no service to Albania and Albanians.

I would like to conclude by acknowledging that we will never be able to pay off them properly as they deserve; we won’t be able to be grateful enough to the families of the martyrs, to the retired people, including Klodian’s father, who has spent his entire life humbly by working hard, honestly and by making endless sacrifices and they are still more sympathetic than the biggest profiteers and the biggest abusers and you know them very well and I am not going to mention them here. On the other hand, I am very happy today that we are able to tell Klodian’s three children that they are the children of this Republic and they will receive financial assistance until they graduate and embark on the career path. Their father’s wage will be sent to their house, and not a single wage, but something more than simply a wage for all three so that at least financially their mother is relieved of the stress to secure income for their education.

Thank you very much!