TIRANA, November 29 – Albania marks the eighty first anniversary of Liberation. The country remembers 29 November 1944 as the day it freed itself from nazi occupation.

The liberation of Tirana on 17 November 1944 opened the final phase of the war. Soon after that victory, the National Liberation Army command in Tirana confirmed the liberation of Shkodër on 29 November 1944.

The National Liberation Anti-Fascist War stands as one of the most important events in Albania’s history. The victory removed the nazi fascist occupiers. It placed Albania alongside the winning forces of the war, next to the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.

That struggle ended the long fight of the Albanian people. It drove out fascist and nazi troops. It strengthened the territorial integrity of the country, which many powers had threatened for decades.

The war became the most inclusive effort in the country’s history. Thousands joined the fight and supported the resistance across all regions of Albania.

Albanians from the south to the north mobilised. Cities and villages backed the fight against the occupiers. Albania joined the Euro Atlantic anti fascist coalition through that effort and remains part of it today as a NATO member.

Albania honours the martyrs who fell for the country’s freedom. Their sacrifice remains the foundation of its independence.

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