TEL AVIV — Thirty years ago, in 1989 — even as the Berlin Wall fell and communist regimes were collapsing across Eastern Europe — tiny Albania was still an isolated Marxist dictatorship that preached hate against the imperialist Americans and their allies, including Israel.

But these days, the Muslim-majority republic proudly ranks itself among Israel’s best buddies in the Balkans.

All this high-level activity should come as no surprise, said Bardhyl Canaj, Albania’s envoy to Israel for the past three years and nine months.

“The more I know Israel, the more I love it here,” said Canaj, 59, who moved to Israel in October 2015 with his wife, Alma. He oversees a staff of three, including a non-resident military attaché…

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/albanias-top-envoy-in-israel-from-enemies-to-best-friends/?fbclid=IwAR3SwfT8PN4XuOBZvnB-WBWc3yhSIDfWyZrRe9ZaNmUQK2xC-ePmvJXtG9A