Our great test before freedom
Message from President Berisha on the occasion of 20 February
It is a very important event for me as President of the Republic and a special honor to take part in this event dedicated to the anniversary of the fall of the monument of the Albanian dictator, an event which irreversibly marks the end of the communist regime in Albania.
The toppling of the monument of the dictator Enver Hoxha in the center of Tirana was first and foremost an act of courage and manliness by our students, the Albanian youth and the citizens of Tirana. 20 February 1991 was the day of the strongest and most determined protest by Albanians against the communist dictatorship and its symbols. 20 February 1991 marked the great break of Albanians with the communist dictatorship and its symbols, their break with the fear and terror of that dictatorship.
20 February brought an end to the dictatorship of monuments in Albania. In fact, it marked the greatest political, moral and psychological collapse of the communist dictatorship in our country. 20 February was the day when Albanians first won in their minds and souls the freedom that had been denied for five decades in a row.
If 8 December 1990, the student movement, was the call to freedom, 20 February was its test. It proved that the patriotism and courage of our students and young people, of hundreds and thousands of citizens of Tirana, overcame the fear sown by communist barbarity in Albania, nourished for decades by the cults of monuments and its bunkers.
Today I feel it necessary to bow with the greatest respect before our students, before the brave young people and citizens who, with their determination, managed to topple the monument of dictator Hoxha, the monument of the fiercest enemy of the freedom of Albanians. Glory to those who toppled the monument of the dictator and opened the way for a free Albania in the hearts and minds of Albanians.
Let us and future generations remember 20 February with the most rightful pride. This day is an immortal part of the history of Albanian freedom. Let us also be aware that this great act of civic courage and daring was also a great lesson for us.
It taught us that there is no system, regime, dictatorship, monument, cult of personality or bunker that can withstand the courage and determination of a free youth and a free people. It showed that the resistance of free people to oppression and its symbols is unbreakable. 20 February is a permanent call for us to defend freedom from any threat, to not allow the return of fear, repression and the myths of dictatorship.
If Albania today is moving toward Europe and the free world, its moral foundations also lie in 20 February 1991. This event remains a reference point for Albanian democracy and for our belief that freedom is won, defended and deserved every day.
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