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| Dritan Abazovic in the center and organizer Marko Kepi on his left |
The Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazovic accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Dorde Radulovic and his team met with the Albanian American Diaspora in Staten Island in the comfortable premises of the restaurant "Trattoria Toscana" owned by an Albanian.
The gathering was organized by the well-known organization "Albanian Roots" with President Mr. Marko Kepi who in his greeting speech said: The organization Albanian Roots has invited today to this meeting with the Albanian-American Diaspora Mr. Dritan Abazovic who is a young successful throughout the Albanian lands. With the vote of the people, he was elected a member of the Parliament of Montenegro and at the same time holds a high state position as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Montenegro. We always promote Albanian boys and girls who are success stories like the case in question, said Mr. Kepi.
Mr. Dritan Abazovic greeted all those present at this meeting and thanked the organizers for the invitation. He brought some of the great achievements and difficulties encountered as a government in relation to the economy and development of the country. Mr. Abazovic said that they are fighting hard against the corruption that has involved high instances of politicians and "I think we have achieved great results at this point. I have come here as your brother and I am out of political views, but only to cooperate for the progress and development of our common country. We are not in the 1990s, but we are in 2021 which belongs to a new era in many ways.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Montenegro, Mr. Dorde Radulovic after greeting all those present said that "I feel at home here, and thank you for the hospitality. We together with the government are coordinating the work for our country to move and integrate like all other developed countries in Europe."
Those present in the hall of representatives of organizations, members of the Diaspora asked many questions to Mr. Abazovic about the situation in the Republic of Montenegro. Among the discussants and those who asked the questions were: Safet Llolla, president of the Association "Ana e Malit", Safet Doçi, member of the secretariat in the association "Kraja" and various individuals. They asked with great pain to see Ulcinj, Ana e Malit and other cities, wherever there are Albanians with better and more suitable living conditions. It was very sad when Safet Doçi said that my origin is from the poorest country in Montenegro where people there still do not have water at home, while America is sending rockets to Mars. They also asked about dual citizenship, population census, the ruined castle of Ulcinj, in unprecedented misery, the Orthodox Church, urban development, tourism, etc.
Mr. Pashko Camaj, Vice President of Vatra, welcomed Mr. Dritan Abazovic and said that these meetings are always fruitful and lead to the development of a country. He raised many problems that Albanians in Montenegro continue to face and at the same time hoping for a better future for his compatriots. Mr. Camaj invited Mr. Abazovic for a visit to Vatra, the oldest and most historic organization of Albanians. An invitation which Deputy Prime Minister Abazovic welcomed with great pleasure.
While Kozeta Zylo, Media Coordinator at Alba Life TV, asked if they have long-term coordination and program for Albanian Schools in the Diaspora with their mother country Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia as millions of Albanians are assimilating to places where they are sheltered and do not speak Albanian and this is an acute national problem. He said that is working intensively in this direction.
Is worth mentioning here that all his answers were accompanied by applause from those present.
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| Marko Kepi handing over the portrait of Skanderbeg to Dritan Abazovic |
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Marko Kepi handed over the gratitude from the New York City Council as well as the portrait of the National Hero Gjergj Kastriot Skënderbeu.