Leo van Doesburg

A few hours later than expected but still early enough the car was fixed and as new (in any case from the inside because from the outside it still had tons of sand and dust, imported from all the countries we were traveling to). Ready to go! Arber escorted us through the city to the road that would lead in the direction of Kosovo. The trip went smoothly. The big tunnel and the highway made it pleasant to travel to the border and due to the new start motor the car was like flying on the street. At the border, a friendly member of the Dutch police working for the EULEX was greeting us in our own language (i.e. Dutch) and helped Auke who tried to find the right way to pay a special car insurance for Kosovo (for some reason the green card is not valid in the northern part of Cyprus, Iran and Kosovo). The border procedures went smoothly. It was interesting to see police agents from different countries checking the functioning off the customs. On their costumes by a small flag you could fin...

In the late morning we discussed the program of the day with Shaban. First we would have a walk in Tirana to show Auke and Annechien. After this I had a meeting with a representative of a political movement that is active to promote democrat ic values for the youth. It was very encouraging to see his professionalism and activities he is developing. Also he was very positive about th e 'Center for Dialogue and the promotion of European Values' and he also wants to be involved. After this we had a short meeting with the Albanian minister of foreign affairs to hear his opinion about the demonstrations that happened in January, to explain a bit about the ECPM and its involvement in Albania, the statement we made because concerning the events and the initiative for starting activities that we would like to develop in Albania. He was positive about our activities and about the work of Shaban and the development of his Center for Dialogue and promotion for European values'. Also h...

After packing our stuff Sinisa came and brought us to the road that would lead us to the border of Montenegro. It was a bad road but through beautiful nature. The border procedures went quickly and the first thing I saw was a goat that stood in the middle of the road probably checking all the foreigners that passed the Albanian border. We arrived on the road to Shkodra but because of all the constructions it was almost impossible to travel on it. Half on our way, Shaban our contact person was waiting for us with two cars with a local delegation from his party in Shkodra and Kop lik. They showed us the city, invited us for a coffee and brought us to the beautiful castle of Rozafa on a mountain overseeing the city of Shkodra. Also the museum showing the history of the city was very interesting. In the late afternoon we arrived in Tirana where after some hours of rest went to the office of Shaban and had a dinner with some representatives of the 'Center for Dialogue and Promotion of ...