Journalist Blendi Fevziu recalled in an interview for Euronews Albania, moments from the founding of the newspaper ‘Rilindja Demokratike’/Democratic Renaissance – the first newspaper in Albania in more than 70 years, that would be free of any political affiliations.
Fevziu showed a photo from the moment when the first copy of RD was released, while he recalled how he and other students at that time, such as Ben Blushi and Armand Shkullaku, were waiting for the release of the first copy, which was later be multiplied and mass-distributed from person to person.
“It is the moment when the first copy of the newspaper comes out, the first free newspaper after 70 or so years in Albania. Prec Zogaj, who was the director of the founding group of the publishing council, quickly opened up the first copy. The photo was taken from a video filmed by Agim Buxheli. Here, I’m together with Armand Shkullaku and Ben Blushi and the three of us had been working all night for the release of the first issue of this newspaper. It was published in 100,000 copies and by nighttime, it had been multiplied and mass-distributed, being passed around from one hand to the other. It was a historic moment and one of those moments that don’t come around very often. The kinds of moments that aren’t attributed to the people, but to the times,” – said Fevziu.
National Youth Day is celebrated today in Albania.
On December 8, 1990, a group of students and lecturers at the University of Tirana became the initiators and protagonists of one of the greatest turning points in Albanian history, the peaceful protests that brought about the fall of the communist regime and the birth of democracy.
With the phrase “We want Albania like the rest of Europe”, young people asked for the establishment of a system of Western values and the rule of law; integration in Europe as well as a guarantee for political pluralism as the main basis for a free and democratic society. Their resistance ended the long era of self-isolation, paving the way for the market economy and an open society.
