On December 2nd, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 110th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Albania, the Lieutenant of the Grand Master, Fra\u2019 John Dunlap, had a meeting in Rome with the Albanian President, Bajram Begaj. The President thanked the Order of Malta for the many health and social assistance activities carried out in the Balkan country by the \u2018Malteser Albania\u2019 volunteer corps with the support of the Order\u2019s Embassy.<\/p>\n
Present at the meeting were the Grand Chancellor, Riccardo Patern\u00f2 di Montecupo, the Secretary General for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Stefano Ronca, and the Order of Malta\u2019s Ambassador to Albania, Stefano Palumbo. Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni also joined the event. Considered an \u2018enemy of the people\u2019 by Hoxha\u2019s communist regime and imprisoned for several years, the cardinal, now 94 years old, is one of the most appreciated figures in the country where he has exercised his ministry in several villages, bearing his testimony as a persecuted Catholic priest who survived the regime.<\/p>\n
During the meeting the intention to make official visits on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Order of Malta and Albania, an anniversary that will fall in 2024, was confirmed. The same year also saw the founding of the Albanian Relief Corps, which in February 2021 received the \u201cMother Teresa\u201d award in recognition of its important commitment to the poorest sections of the population. The Order of Malta and Albania signed a Postal Agreement in 2011 and a Cooperation Agreement in 2016.<\/p>\n","news_gallery":"yes","news_gallery_elements":[{"id":2110,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6534.jpeg"},{"id":2100,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6634.jpeg"},{"id":2096,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6691.jpeg"},{"id":2106,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6626.jpeg"},{"id":2104,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6973.jpeg"},{"id":2098,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6858.jpeg"},{"id":2108,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/12\/NICU6884.jpeg"}],"news_excerpt":"On December 2nd, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 110th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Albania, the Lieutenant of the Grand Master, Fra\u2019 John Dunlap, had a meeting in Rome with the Albanian President, Bajram Begaj. The President thanked the Order of Malta for the many health and social assistance activities carried out in the Balkan country by the \u2018Malteser Albania\u2019 volunteer corps with the support of the Order\u2019s Embassy."},"news_categories":[{"id":10,"name":"News","slug":"news","description":"","link":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news-categories\/news\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/2093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/2093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}