The President of France, Emmanuel Macron presents the writer Ismail Kadare with the "Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor" decoration
French President Emmanuel Macron has honored the great Albanian writer Ismail Kadare with the rank of "Senior Officer" of the Legion of Honor.
Although he failed to be present this morning at the Berlin Process summit, due to security problems in France, Macron hastened to arrive this evening at the Palace of Brigades, where the special ceremony honoring Kadare was held.
Before handing over the award, Macron gave a long, emotional speech, which showed that he not only knows very specific details from Kadare's life, but also read his works first translated into French and then into dozens other languages of the world.
Part of Macron's speech about Kadare:
The fragile road ended with the publication of the novel "Palace of Dreams", the metaphor was very clear. You will no longer have the right to publish in Albania, at that moment you turned to the country that first translated your books. When you were 16 years old, you sang verses to a city you had never visited. At the bottom of the suitcase, you didn't bring bottles of wine, but books, books, books, which you gave to your Albanian compatriots as a bottle of linen. Your escape was a blow to the wall of the dictatorship. Your departure brought the first student protests. In a fluctuating movement between our nations, from your walks in Tirana, timeless texts have been born, of the imaginary of the Pyramid of Cheops and that of Tirana.
They remind us endlessly how much Europe is a dream, a myth. You continue to experience this with your family history. With your two daughters Gresa and Besjana, ambassador to Unesco and the other a molecular biology researcher. Rest assured, your work has lost none of its power. The freedom that silences, there are whispers louder than screams. As a poet of the Balkans, as a rhapsode of Europe, I have the honor today to elevate you to the rank of High Officer in the Order of the Legion of Honor.