The US Ambassador to Albania, Yuri Kim has tweeted of her “surprise” that the American flag was visible in the crowd at today’s protest called by President Ilir Meta.
This evening, several thousand citizens congregated on the main boulevard of Tirana to call for an end to the so-called “coup” executed by the government.
Kim tweeted that she was surprised to see the US flag in the crowd, despite the nations strong ties and the fact there are some 250,000 Albanians in America.
I was surprised to see the US flag at tonight’s “manifestation.” To avoid any confusion, we wish to clarify that while the US supports the right of peaceful protest, we have nothing to do with tonight’s “manifestation.”
— Ambassador Yuri Kim (@USAmbAlbania) March 2, 2020
She referred to the protest as a “manifestation” complete with quotation marks and said that while the US supports the right to peaceful protest, the US has nothing to do with tonight’s “manifestation”, using quotation marks once again.
Social media users were quick to point out that there were Albanian Americans in the crowd and that the US and EU flag regularly appears in protests as a symbol of the shared values of those taking part.
