Speech by Prime Minister Edi Rama on the occasion of tribute ceremony for the nation’s martyr Zarife Hasanaj:

It is so hard to say the goodbye words to the deceased army officer, the late corporal Zarife Hasanaj, in the presence of her parents, who would have wished to see her walking out the doorstep wearing the white wedding dress, aside the groom, but instead they are bidding farewell to their daughter dressed in the National Flag, and her body being carried on shoulders by her comrades in the Armed Force of the Republic of Albania; her two sisters, brother, family members and relatives feel an inconsolable void for this loss of no return among them; in the presence of her army fellows who have pledged loyalty to the flag that gives us the honour of bearing the name Albanian and for which the Armed Force of the Republic of Albania have sworn and pledged to sacrifice their own lives in defending the motherland and their will and sacrifice is embodied in the red and black that wraps today the body of the latest martyr of the Republic.

However, it is my duty to find the right words and in my capacity as the Prime Minister of Albania, as a citizen of this Republic, as a parent and brother, humbly express my sincerest condolences to the parents, sisters, the brother and the relatives of this girl, who does now belong to those who have left and will come to this world carrying the Albanian blood and name.

The girl wrapped in the nation’s flag is today the shocking embodiment of the daily truth of loyalty to the homeland, dedication and sacrifice for the motherland they have created and recreate every day in accomplishing its mission, the inalienable and irreplaceable existence of the Armed Force of the Republic, a community of man and women, boys and girls who live every hour, day and night with the mission to defend us all from any external threats and secure the country and Albania’s deserved dignity in the big community of the family of nations lined on the right side of history, shoulder to shoulder in every NATO challenge and mission.

We seldom see them among us, and their families seldom see them. We hear very little about them on our daily life. We admire them in the most difficult of days when they emerge close to the people in need for help and fight against the weather’s rage to save people’s lives in heroic rescue missions. We appreciate and praise them on marked day, when lined up in front of ceremonial tribunes, but not always do we think that while we carry out by our daily lives, work, joys and sadness, they keep making the same sacrifice silently every second. They make the same sacrifice, the same tedious daily effort to defend us and ensure Albania’s dignified place in NATO.

It is because these girls and boys, men and women that in this painful moment we are reminded of how an ordinary person can be an unsung hero and have the power to persevere no matter what.

Zarife Hasanaj joined the armed forces 11 years ago and in 2013 she was promoted to corporal rank. Everything I heard and I was told about her was a revelation of how strict, disciplined and reliable she was.

Today the national flag is lowered and flying at half-mast to mourn in its everlasting silence the first woman in the history of our Armed Forces after falling in the line of duty and she will make her final journey in this world wrapped under the red flag to rest in peace forever at the Martyrs of the Nation cemetery. Mother Albania will guard over her head, day and night eternally.

While all we are left is nothing but bid farewell and remember her as long as we live together with all other martyrs who departed from this life to become part of the motherland’s altar. Let’s remember her not only on certain occasions. Let’s not forget her on our daily lives.

May she rest in peace among all the bests of this land and may she be our light in our every step towards the future!