Nga Shefqet Kërcelli/ Korrespondent i Diellit në Shqipëri/
Në fakt axhendën e kësaj vizite të paralajmëruar, gazeta”Dielli” e publikoi ndër të parat nga mediat shqiptare. Avioni i Sekretarit Amerikan të Shtetit u ul në aeroportin “Nënë Tereza” në orën 09.45 minuta. Fillimisht zoti Kerry takoi kreun e shtetit, zotin Bujar Nishani, një takim qe zgjati rreth 5 minuta. Më pas, Sekretari i Shtetit në një nga makinat e ambasadës amerikane u nis drejt kryeqytetit, për të vazhduar takimet protokollare. Eskorta e tij ka ndjekur itinerarin e paracaktuar, nga Rinasi në autostradën Kashar-Tiranë, nën masa të forta sigurie. Që herët në mëngjes, forcat e sigurisë së tij personale dhe forcave të sigurisë së policisë shqiptare kishin kontrolluar rrugët, mjediset publike dhe ndërtesat ku do të kalonte zoti Kerry. Një helikopter i Forcave Ushtarake ka shoqëruar në një lartësi të ulët eskortën nga Rinasi deri në selinë e Kryeministrisë. Ndërkohë rruga nga aeroporti i Rinasit deri sheshin “Nënë Tereza” ishte zbukuruar me flamuj amerikanë dhe shqiptarë më shumë se kurrë. Vizita e Zotit Kerry përkoi me ditën e dashurisë, kështuqë pamavarësisht shiut, sheshi “Skënderbej” dhe bulevardi “dëshmorët e Kombit”, kishte qytëtarë të shumtë që kishin dalë për të përshëndetur ardhjen e sekretarit Kerry. Takimi me kryeministrin Edi Rama zgjati rreth gjysmë ore. Pas deklaratave të përbashkëta, sekretari Kerry shëtiti me këmbë nga selia e Kryeministrisë për në hotel “Rogner”, për t’u takuar me kryetarin e opozitës Lulzim Basha. Në këtë pjesë rruge, qindra qytetarë të Tiranës përshëndetën Sekretarin Amerikan të Shtetit. Pas takimit me kryetarin e opozitës Lulzim Basha, Sekretari Kerry dhe delegacioni i Tij, iu drejtuan Muzeut Kombëtar, ku takoi një grup të rinjsh përfaqsues të OJQ. Në këtë takim mernin pjesë kryesisht të rinj të shkolluar në Shtetet e Bashkuara me bursa të dhëna nga ambasada ose projekte nga agjenci të ndryshme amerikane. Takimi zgjati 60 minuta dhe këtu të rinjtë nxorrën në pah probleme të jetës së përditëshme, luftën kundër korrupsionit, censura, autocensura në media, ndikimi i politikës në media, etj. Zoti Kerry ishte i interesuar të njihtë me detaje problemet kryesore që shqetësonin të rinjtë e qytetarët shqiptarë, sidomos për situatën në media dhe luftën kundër korrupsionit. Kështu të rinjtë ndanë më zotin Kerry ceshtje si, reforma në drejtësi dhe ndikimi i saj në media, vështirësitë dhe pengesat burokratike, korrupsioni, të cilat u dëgjuan me vëmendje nga Shkeqesia e Tij. Nga ana e tij zoti Kerry vlerësoi përpjekjet e të rinjve në cështjet e programet e shtetit ligjor e medias së pavarur, duke evidentuar rolin e popullit shqiptar në zgjidhjen e cështjeve kryesore të demokracisë. Gjatë këtijy takimi zoti Kerry shoqërohej nga Zonja Nouland, zoti Lu dhe personel i ambasadës. Mbas takimit sekretari Kerry cau rrethimin e forcave të sigurisë dhe ju afrua e takoi një grup qytetarësh, pjesë e të cilëve isha dhe unë, duke u shprehur:- Falenderoj popullin shqiptar për pritjen e organizuar! Sjell dhe mesazhin e presidentit Obama për popullin shqiptar! Do na keni gjithmonë pranë në rrugën e nisur! Dikush nga qytetarët i kërkoi një mesazh për Kosovën, Do vazhdojmë mbështetjen tonë, theksoi zoti Kerry dhe u largua për tek makina nën duartrokitjet dhe falenderimet e qytetarëve shqiptarë. Kështu u mbyll vizita e sekretarit të shtetit zoti Kerry në Shqipëri. Takimet zgjatën më tepër nga sa ishin parashikuar, kështuqë vizita zgjati nga 3 në 4 orë. Në orën 13:27, sekretari Kerry nga Muzeu Kombëtar ju drejtua aeroportit “Nënë Tereza”.
Fjala e zotit Kerry
“Unë jam këtu sepse ne jemi miq. Dua ta nënvizoj këtë gjë. Ne jemi aleatë. Në kemi interesa të përbashkëta dhe marrëdhëniet tona diplomatike kanë përjetuar kohë interesante dhe të veçanta… Shtetet e Bashkuara dhe Shqipëria vetëm do të vijnë duke e rritur dhe e forcuar këtë marrëdhënie që kemi sot. ..SHBA dhe Presidenti Obama eshte me Shqiperine ne transformimin dhe rrugetimin e saj”

Fjala e plote e sekretarit Kerry ne anglisht.

Sekretari i Shtetit John Kerry: Well, good morning to all of you, and thank you very, very much, Mr. Prime Minister. It really is a very special opportunity to be here with you today. You and I have met. I have admired your leadership. I appreciate your creativity enormously. And I am deeply appreciative of the palpable, the tangible warmth of the welcome here in Tirana, in Albania today. And I am grateful for you taking the time, along with Foreign Minister Bushati and the rest of your team, to share with us all of the thoughts that you just described in your very comprehensive statement. President Obama and I and the American people are very grateful for the leadership that you are offering and for your team’s efforts to not just care about Albania and Albanian’s interests but to embrace a broad set of values which define all of us and I think really are at the root of the great friendship that the United States and Albania share.
I am here because we are friends. I want to emphasize that. We are allies. We have enormous mutual interests and we have traveled a very interesting and very special road in our diplomatic relations which, as the prime minister reminded everybody, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of those diplomatic relations in one month. I think I can tell you that, as our ambassador here, Donald Lu, has told me, our relations really are extremely healthy and very, very warm, and we’re all very, very grateful for that fact.
I have listened carefully to the thoughts of the prime minister this morning, and I think he made very important points and opened up opportunities for the United States and Albania to work even more closely together. We’re living in a time of enormous global challenge. Albania has understood those challenges, and your leadership has been very important in helping the United States and others to be able to meet the test of our times: this fight against violent extremism, this effort to distort a great religion and to use it for, in many cases, evil purposes that have nothing to do with any religion on the face of this planet.
So I have just come from Munich, where our focus was the struggle in the Middle East and the need to confront and defeat the terrorist group Daesh. And there obviously was much discussion, as we all know, about the impact of that fight as it is playing out in Syria and the impact with migration throughout the region. We know that defeating Daesh is not going to happen just because of what any one country does. It’s going to require a broad coalition, and we have built that coalition. And Albania, I am proud to say and grateful to say, is a charter member of that coalition. Albania has been there from the beginning, willing to stand by all countries in opposition to Daesh. And it is standing up with us in support of Iraq. It is standing up with us in support of Afghanistan. And it is standing with us in the long-term struggle to emphasize to people the importance of tolerance, to marginalize violent extremes, to recognize that it is important for all of us to be able to build societies and communities in which you may not agree with everybody else but you have a tolerance for their views, provided they are living within the law and within the norms of decency and international behavior.
Albania is not just a friend and not just a country that has shown in so many ways a special affection for the United States, but Albania is also a NATO ally, and that brings special responsibilities for this region. And we are grateful for Albania’s membership and partnership in that alliance.
During our meeting today, the prime minister and the foreign minister and I had a good chance to review Albania’s significant progress – the real steps that Albania is taking in order to take on its full responsibilities in this alliance and friendship, and also to do the things that it wants to do and has embraced in order to be able to be more deeply integrated in Euro-Atlantic institutions.
The evidence is absolutely clear, and Albania should be very pleased with the fact that your country is moving in the right direction. You are on the right track, and I am quite confident that with the awareness that has been embraced in your legislation with respect to combating corruption, I am very, very heartened, as everybody is, to know that your reforms are well underway. I am personally impressed by the approval of legislation to bar criminals from the political system. That’s a courageous step, it’s an important step, and it’s a significant statement with respect to the road that Albania is on. I am encouraged, very much so, by the judicial reform package that is now being considered in order to improve the judiciary and allow for a greater crackdown on corruption.
And I want to emphasize this is something that your leadership is embracing, that they are working hard to be able to deliver. And they are committed, I am convinced, to the fight for more accountable governance, and that requires the support of every single Albanian. The United States is absolutely ready and willing, and I am here to affirm on behalf of President Obama that we are with you in this transformation and in this journey.
But in the end, only Albanians can enact the laws – the right laws – and insist on their effective implementation. Now, I know this from personal experience. I shared with the prime minister my own journey as a young prosecutor in the state of Massachusetts in America, and I know that it’s tough to take on those who have become happy with a process of avoiding their shared responsibilities to the entire nation by engaging in one kind of corrupt activity or another. But as hard as it is, I am convinced that the prime minister and the government are committed to a track that will guarantee that Albania’s future is one that will take it to a full partnership with Europe and the rest of the world and to prosperity and better opportunity for all the people of Albania.
The people of this country know full well and want to live in a place that where the rule of law means exactly that: It is the rule of law and its judges and prosecutors abide by exactly the same rules as the average citizen in every street, and that everyone else will be treated fairly, no matter what political party is in power and no matter who belongs to what party, no matter what your politics are.
Albania, I want to affirm, has come a long way in the last quarter of a century. And as the people of my own country can attest, it is hard work. It’s not easy building a strong democracy, and it is the work of many decades, really. And frankly, the work is never done. We are still working to perfect our own. We have our own set of challenges. The most important thing is that you talk about them openly and you work in a concerted way to try to address the concerns of the people.
Albania has made significant progress and is clearly committed – no question about it – to achieving more. And in so doing, Albania can count on the full friendship and support of the people of the United States, of our government. And I must say I have so many friends of Albanian descent in America who have always said to me, “You have to go to Albania. You’ve got to visit.” I’m sorry it’s such a short visit. I have to come back, and I will, but I promise you this: The United States of America and Albania will only grow and strengthen this special relationship that we have today. And I thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for a very warm and generous first welcome to Albania. Thank you.