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Antony Blinken was the sixth American Secretary of State to visit our country while in office.
The first to break the half-century ice of relations between the two countries was James Baker in June 1991. At that time, the country was boiling with protests against communism, and over 200,000 Albanians eager for freedom and democracy welcomed him in Skënderbej Square.
'Freedom works, walk towards it', was the Secretary's message at the time.
9 months later, on March 22, 1992, early elections were held, which sealed the arrival of democracy.
But the road ahead was not a field of flowers. The 1996 elections were criticized by the US and put Sali Berisha, then President, on a collision course with the US Ambassador in Tirana at the time, Marisa Lino.
Almost a decade later, on February 18, 2000, Madeleine Albright arrived in Albania, who together with President Bill Clinton were the main voices in favor of NATO's intervention in Kosovo.
A year later, in 2001, Albania held parliamentary elections. In May 2003, Secretary Colin Powell arrived in Tirana, who thanked Albania for becoming part of the coalition in favor of military intervention in Iraq. Elections in Albania were held in 2005.
On November 1, 2012, Secretary Hillary Clinton stopped in Albania for a one-day visit, while in 2013 the next parliamentary elections.
Her visit is followed by that of Secretary John Kerry in 2016 and in 2017 Albanians voted for the new parliament. The last one on the list that respects this tradition is Antony Blinken, who stopped in Tirana the day before, while the parliamentary elections are held next year./ Vox News
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