Today is December 8, National Youth Day. Proclaimed since 2009 by the Parliament of Albania, this date is celebrated as a national holiday in honor of all the December 1990 students and all Albanian youth.
On December 8, 1990, a group of students and lecturers of Tirana University became the initiators and protagonists of the historic turning point, through their peaceful protests that brought about the fall of the communist system and the rise of democracy.
Chanting the slogan “We love Albania like all of Europe,” they stood up for the establishment of the Western values and the rule of law-based system; integration in Europe and political pluralism as the main basis for a free and democratic society.
The Student Movement of 1990 is the only peaceful movement that changed the history of Albania.
Their public act, both civic and political, peacefully ended the long era of isolation and ideological rule, paving the way for the market economy and open society.
The values of this marked day become more and more national values, because unlike other events, December 8 did not have two sides, one winner and one loser.
Leo ni Desemba 8, siku ya kitaifa ya vijana. Tarehe hii ya Desemba ni siku ya likizo ya kitaifa ya Albania, ambayo huadhimishwa kwa heshima ya wanafunzi wote wa Desemba 1990 na vijana wote wa Albania. Mnamo Desemba 8, 1990, kikundi cha wanafunzi na wahadhiri wa Chuo Kikuu cha Tirana walianza na kuwa wahusika wakuu wa hatua ya kihistoria ya mapinduzi, kupitia maandamano yao ya amani ambayo yalileta kuanguka kwa mfumo wa kikomunisti na kuongezeka kwa demokrasia. "Wakiwa wakipiga kelele ""Tunapenda Albania kama Ulaya yote,"" walijitahidi kuanzisha maadili ya Magharibi na mfumo wa utawala wa sheria, kuunganishwa Ulaya na ubaguzi wa kisiasa kama msingi wa jamii huru na ya kidemokrasia." Harakati ya Wanafunzi ya 1990 ni harakati pekee ya amani ambayo ilibadilisha historia ya Albania. Hatua yao ya umma, ya kiraia na ya kisiasa, ilimaliza kwa amani enzi ndefu ya kutengwa na utawala wa itikadi, na kuandaa njia kwa uchumi wa soko na jamii ya wazi. "Hii ni siku ya ""mwisho wa dunia"" na kwa sababu tofauti na matukio mengine, Desemba 8 haikuwa na pande mbili, mshindi na mshindi."