VLORË, ALL OF ALBANIA
Tribute to the victims, an appeal against hatred, for peace and understanding, so that there may be no more tears and sorrow in the lives of Albanians
The funeral ceremonies for the victims of the Otranto tragedy are held. Prime Ministers Nano and Prodi also attended
Vlorë, 14 November 1997 “On 28 March they handed me a bunch of flowers, asking me to throw it into the sea, near their loved ones. I did so, and today I am once again in your city. I am here to bid a final farewell to these brothers and sisters of ours and to share in your grief, to tell you that your mourning is also that of the Italian people.” NANO “This high price in blood and tears that the people of Vlorë and all Albania have paid is an obligation for the entire responsible political class in Albania: not to allow, and even less to cause, such tragic crises. This is an obligation to work all together for the good of our beloved Albania, for our common good.”
Great sorrow brought all Albania together in Vlorë, Fier and Lushnjë. A sea of tears united the souls of Albanians, from Shkodra to Saranda and everywhere else they live and work. Tribute, gratitude, prayers for peace.
The angels of the sea came, who had set out to touch a dream. And they remained for eternity. Yesterday, tragedy and Vlorë were one. Mothers in black headscarves and men whose tears flowed from the soul, minister and good soldier, children and [leut?], the sea, “Flag Square,” the streets, the birds—all beneath the weight of a grief whose dimensions only the soul can measure. Never has Vlorë wept as it did yesterday; never has it been more united, stronger. Yet at the same time it was more noble and humane, showing its feelings with dignity, sorrow, and love.
Yesterday, Vlorë was all Albania.
Its pain belongs to all Albanians, including those who were not physically there—from the President of the Republic, who, together with the dignity and vision of Albania’s future, represents at an international event both the pain for the victims and the pain for [mbarësht?], with the solemn commitment that tragedy and tears will never return to this country, to the good farmer in distant Vermosh, who is bowed only by the weight of grief for [pellogër?] [përkupin?].
Vlorë, love, pain, pride! Let us bow our heads and pray with reverence. May peace and happiness reign, so that there may be no more sadness in children’s eyes, so that there may never again be tears and sorrow in the lives of Albanians.
Read more on pages 2–3