Edi Rama to visit Serbia, promote his book in Belgrade

The Albanian prime minister will visit Serbia, among other things to promote his book - Kurban (Sacrificial Lamb) and an exhibition of drawings, but also the highway to Durres

Snezana Congradin Source: Danas.rs Thursday, 18.08.2016. | 16:15

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(N1 via Danas)

Rama will depart from Belgrade to Nis on October 14, where a meeting of Albanian and Serbian entrepreneurs will be organized, while the promotion of the project of constructing the Nis-Durres highway, where Kosovo officials should also take part, is possible

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama will visit Belgrade on October 13, when he will promote his book "(Kurban) – Sacrificial Lamb", Serbian edition, Danas reports. Rama will take part on Belgrade Security Forum that will be held from October 12-14, in Belgrade.

As we were informed, Albanian Prime Minister will depart for Nis on October 14, where he will attend the meeting of the entrepreneurs of Albania and Serbia.
According to still unconfirmed information, joint project pertaining to high way Nis-Durres should be promoted, that will afterwards be submitted to Brussels.

As we were told by our sources in Tirana, the highway will be surely constructed, although European Union still doesn’t have concrete proposals, i.e. response to the question how much funds will be approved and in what payment dynamics.

Possible "historic" visit

This event should be attended by some of Kosovo officials, and it is speculated that this could be the President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci. This would be, it goes without saying, a historic visit of Hashim Thaci to Serbia.

During the visit of Josef Biden, Vice President of USA, Prime Minister of Serbia had said that he informed vice president Biden that for a month or so, Edi Rama will visit Serbia, as well as that "we will host some of Albanian representatives from Kosovo and Metohija, that we will host many people on business forums, on the meetings".

"That is why we want to develop our country, to provide the growth of our economy, in the same time preserving our national and state interests", Vucic stated.

Security Forum's guest

"The book Kurban will be printed prior to Edi Rama’s visit to Belgrade Security Forum on October 13. It will be promoted then, also, as well as the next day, in Nis, on the meeting of entrepreneurs of Albania and Serbia. Maybe we could on this occasion make a mini-exhibition of Edi Rama’s drawings. Moreover, prior to Belgrade Book Fair, we will publish the book "Palace of Dreams“ of Ismail Kadare, who marks 80th anniversary this year. We plan to publish several other books of this author in Serbian," Veran Matic, director of publishing house Samizdat B92 that will publish those titles stated for Danas.

Political advisor of Edi Rama, writer and publicist Shkelzen Maliqi speaks for Danas govori about the book of Albanian Prime Minister, that will be promoted in Belgrade and Nis.

"The book Kurban (Sacrificial Lamb) was published in 2011, after Rama had lost elections for Tirana Mayor. The result was very tight. In the first count, Rama was ahead of his opponent for only nine votes (out of around half a million of voters), and then Democratic Party submitted complaint and asked for 1.000 invalid ballots to be counted too, that was placed in the wrong boxes (elections for MPs were held simultaneously). Counting took place for several weeks as Election Commission discussed every single previously announced "invalid" ballot and as democrats got majority in the commission, they had managed to "change“ the result. Basha, Rama’s opponent won the elections by beating Rama for some 70 votes. During the summer after he lost both local and general elections pretty tight (or thanks to manipulating activities), Rama had decided to write programming testimony on the conflict situation in Albania, which is very personal, confronting his vision of democratic transformation and modernization of Tirana and Albania with the authoritarian one of Sali Berisha," Maliqi depicts the content of the book for our newspaper.

Books and tolerance

He points out that it is "very unusual book, the analysis of state and perspective, written with somewhat baroque style, with lots of metaphors and humor".

"When it comes to Kadare, Samizdat had made arrangements to publish a selection of four or five books that I had proposed that could be interesting to the broader audience. The first is 'Palace of Dreams', that I had translated into Serbian and published in Sarajevo some 25 years ago, and now it will appear in a new advanced version. We also prepare the collection of stories, followed by two or three novels, that will be published successively in the course of the next two years," Shkelzen Maliqi underlines for Danas.

Just as a reminder, Edi Rama had visited Belgrade in autumn 2014, which was the first time that high Albanian official comes to Serbia, after 70 years. Although it was followed by the incidents on the football match between Serbia and Albania, when Serbian hooligans roared - Kill, slaughter, so that Shqipetar doesn’t exist – dron was launched on the stadium carrying the flag of "Greater Albania", this event was still regarded as historically significant for the relations of both states. Reconciliation process and the process of normalization of relations between Serbia and Albania plays special role in the current dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as it is followed by the programs of economic cooperation and establishing youth office, which ultimate result should be elimination of prejudices and intolerance among those two nations.

Necessary inter-state agreements in the field of culture

"Prior to Belgrade Book Fair, we will publish first volume of the book 'Serbs and Albanians through the Centuries', written by Petrit Imami, both in Serbian and Albanian, while till the end of this year, the second volume of the same book on some 1200 pags will appear, which represents most complete Serbian-Albanian relations since their beginning," Veran Matic points out for Danas. He announced that Samizdat finishes the preparations for publishing new title of Veton Surroi - Ambassador and other heretical essays – which is practically the sequel of the book “Serpent’s legs“.

"I believe that cultural cooperation between Albania, Serbia and Kosovo is of utmost importance, as much as political or economic. Ethnical distance between the Serbs and Albanians is very deep and it would be rather naive to try to bridge it only through politics or economy. For tolerant relations, it is necessary to learn more about the opposite nation and to accept specific traits of every nation, respectively. That is why it is necessary to make inter-state agreements in the field of culture and scientific-educational cooperation with the precise perennial agenda, so that those could be integrated into the budgets of our states, and so that the cooperation does not depend only on the enthusiasm of individuals or happen occasionally," Veran Matic concluded for our paper.