Today is December 8, National Youth Day. Proclaimed since 2009 by the Albanian Parliament, this date is commemorated as a national holiday in honor of all the students of December 1990 and all Albanian youth.
On December 8, 1990, a group of students and professors from the Universities of Tirana became the initiators and protagonists of the great historical turning point, the peaceful protests that brought about the fall of the communist system and the birth of democracy.
With the phrase "We love Albania like all of Europe", they called for the establishment of a system of Western values and the rule of law; integration into Europe and the guarantee of 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 self-isolation and ideological rule, thus paving the way for a market economy and an open society. The values of this day are increasingly becoming national values, because unlike other events, December 8 did not have two sides, a winner and a loser.
