French President Emmanuel Macron arrived this evening on his first official visit to Albania. He started the visit with the presentation of the highest decoration of the Republic of France "Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor" to the prominent Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare, with an official ceremony at the Palace of Brigades.
The Head of Elise made a chronology of the works of the famous writer from those banned and published during the communist era, to the request for asylum in France, calling him the poet of the Balkans and the rhapsody of Europe.
"Over the years it has been a form of dance to drown you on the one hand and a dance to write and say things. This fragile path ended with the Palace of Dreams. You brought books, Sartre, Camus books that you gave to your friends as a bottle of linen. Your departure brought student protests. You contributed to the great awakening of the peoples that raised the iron curtain. You have divided your existence between words and things, people and things. Timeless texts have been born from the Rostan coffee table. You could have let the ship burn, but you refused to abandon a people in the hands of those who had burned their freedom. Dear Ismail Kadare, sometimes you feel regret for those years that oppressed you. The freedom that shuts their mouths has louder whispers than screams. For this role as a poet of the Balkans, as a rhapsode of Europe as a messenger of freedom, for this exciting connection that you embody between Albania and France, I have the honor to be elevated to the rank of High Officer in the Order of the Legion of Honor," Macron said. in an emotional speech./A2news
