765.75/519: Telegram
The Minister in Albania (Grant) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 24—8:50 a.m.]
53. An agreement has been signed by the Italian Ambassador Jacomoni and the Albanian government here today51 provides for equal, civil and political rights for Italians in Albania and for Albanians in Italy. The demand for equal, civil and political rights for Italians in Albania was one of the original Italian demands which was rejected by King Zog. The agreement, it is believed, is the first step in a program for Italian colonization in Albania.
A large Fascist celebration was staged today in Tirana and in other centers. The Secretary of the Fascist Party in Rome was here and there was much waving of Italian and Albanian flags and military demonstrations by units of the Italian army of occupation. I am reliably informed that the Albanian peasants who paraded in their native costumes received one franc each for their participation.
- Treaty signed at Tirana, April 20, 1939, Gazetta ufflciale del Regno d’Italia, August 3, 1939, pt. 1, p. 3611.↩