Israel’s President Isaac Herzog delivers a speech during a tribute ceremony at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, southern France, on March 20, 2022. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

JNS.org — Albania will open a commercial liaison office in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish state, Prime Minister Edi Rama told Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in Tirana on Thursday.

The move “marks a significant upgrade in the strong relationship between the two nations and represents a symbol of the deep friendship between the two peoples,” according to a statement by Herzog.

Herzog’s trip to the Albanian capital marked the first official visit of Israel’s head of state to the Muslim-majority Balkan nation. The president was accompanied by Idit Ohel, an Israeli of Serbian origin whose son Alon was taken hostage when Hamas attacked the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7, 2023.

“It is especially meaningful to be among friends at this painful time for Israel, as we near the one-year mark since Hamas terrorists brutally attacked Israel. One year since thousands of terrorists invaded our country, savagely murdered and wounded thousands, and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis and foreign nationals into Gaza,” Herzog told Rama.

“Your country has shown, again and again, that you stand with the people of Israel as we fight to defend our borders and our civilization,” he continued. “Unfortunately, we are fighting more than one terrorist enemy simultaneously. The trail of blood linking all of the agents of hate is Iran, and its cruel, antisemitic fixation with the destruction of the State of Israel.”

The Albanian premier presented his Israeli guests with a book of his paintings as a token of appreciation and stressed the importance of freeing the remaining 101 hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

“Thank you for having brought here with you the mother of hostage, of Alon, to whom I had the privilege to dedicate a book of my art. And I’ll pray for him to get back,” Rama said.

“I want to send a very brotherly message to all the parents of the hostages on one hand, expressing the most heartfelt condolences to all of them who lost their kids, who lost their loved ones in this horrendous moment in time, and on the other hand, to wish to all the others, to hug their kids and to hug their loved ones as soon as possible,” he said.

“These images of that day, that very dark day, not just for Israel, but for all the world, were images that no one should forget,” he added.

On Wednesday, Herzog traveled to Belgrade, Serbia, where he met with President Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, Foreign Minister Marko Đurić, Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, and members of the Jewish community.