“What no one thought of even as a distant possibility happened and is unfolding for 12 long days and nights. In a free Europe less than a quarter of a century after the last war on the old continent, an independent, sovereign, democratic, peaceful state was attacked by a neighboring state, without any provocation and without any warning,” Spiropali said in her remarks in parliament.

“For the vast majority of the world, as evidenced by the UN Security Council vote of resolution that Albania co-drafted with the US, the aggressor has a single name, Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation,” said Spiropali.

“Media outlets and social networks are airing all over the world footage of dramatic views from Ukraine which has become the highlight of worldwide debate,” she said.

“Cities that are bombarded and shelled. Children, women, civilians have become targets of the Russian war machine. 1.5 million citizens of Ukraine have fled the horrors of war as refugees. Their number is increasing day by day, while the military attack continues,” she said.

“For us Albanians, these images evoke painful memories. We also experienced our war only 23 years ago, when the criminal regime under Milosevic sent soldiers and tanks against the civilian population in Kosovo, killing and massacring, displacing in just a few weeks 1 million war refugees, just because they were Albanians. Then NATO, the US, Great Britain, the whole democratic West joined forces on a single front, in a great moral battle won by humanity with the language of force, because there was no other alternative. Either freedom had to win in Kosovo, or Europe would suffer tectonic shocks on its democratic foundations. “In Kosovo, NATO and the KLA fought for Kosovo to be the last scene of the war that would take place in Europe,” said Spiropali.

Spiropali said, “it was not the Ukrainians who started the war, but they are fighting heroically for the land of their ancestors, for the freedom won with blood, for their children. President Zelensky has become an international symbol of resistance to Russian brutality, but also a defender of the free world.”

“War does not compromise with its victims. It is at everyone’s home. It is also at every Albanian’s home. These days I have also seen Albanian children express their solidarity by bringing aid to their peers in Ukraine. Clothes and blankets, prayers and hope that this anxiety end as soon as possible. The war does not spare anyone and in the war, from the human point of view, in terms of the cost to be paid, the sacrifices that have to be made, everyone loses in the war, even the winner, ” Minister Spiropali said.

Spiropali added that, “this war is taking a heavy toll on in the world economy, on economy of the region and the Albanian economy and the repercussions of this war must be dealt with.”

“Today Ukraine on the front line and the democratic West on the same front with it are fight for all humanity,” Spiropali said, adding, “today we see a united Europe, a Europe expressing solidarity, a determined Europe, a Europe with a clear compass of policies and geostrategy that united it will win. ”
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