U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim spoke at the “Albanian-American Relations: Past, Present and Future” conference today in honor of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of official relations between the United States and Albania.

The conference, organized by the Albanian Institute for International Studies and supported by the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, brought together Albanian and American diplomats, historians, researchers, and experts from various fields, who discussed milestones of the relationship between our countries. Addressing the conference alongside Speaker of Parliament Lindita Nikolla, U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim said that “during the last 31 years, Albanians have pulled their country from the dark shadows of dictatorship and communism to build a country that is truly free, that is truly democratic and increasingly prosperous. The United States has been proud to be at your side to help as we can, krah per krah, as you undertake your journey… We’re tremendously proud and we want to continue to help you at these critical moments, to continue to move forward.

That’s why we place so much emphasis on our support for Albania’s effort to reform its judicial system and to rid this society, this country, of corruption.” U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, the former Deputy Chief of Mission, also addressed the conference through a video message and shared his memories on arriving and working in Tirana after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations in 1991.