The Albanian government has announced that a road serving the Russian embassy in Tirana will be renamed “Free Ukraine Street” as of Monday after several cities, including Riga and Vilnius, made similar gestures in the last few days.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a number of cities in Europe have demonstrated their solidarity with Kyiv by renaming streets that house their respective Russian embassies names that reflect solidarity with Ukraine.
For example, in Vilnius, Lithuania, the road will be called ‘Ukraine’s Heroes Street’ while in Riga, Latvia it will be “Independent Ukraine Street”.
Like in the other cities, this will mean the embassy must change its formal address including on business cards, online, and on all correspondence.
In Tirana, the street is also home to the Kosovo and Serbian embassies, creating a somewhat interesting geopolitical triangle. Serbia, an ally of Russia that has refused to enact sanctions against it and allows pro-Russian marches in Belgrade, will also have to adopt the new street name.
The news was given by Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj who said it was a clear message of solidarity with Ukraine.
The @CityOfTirana will name a street segment on embassy row "Free Ukraine"
Coincidentally, the Ukranian, Russian, Serbian & Kosovar Embassies are on that row
The Serbia war on Kosovo & the Russian war on Ukraine have defined our generation
This street will define our city 🇦🇱🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/mWjBwnoWg0
— Erion Veliaj #EYC2022 🇪🇺🇦🇱 (@erionveliaj) March 5, 2022
