Bush Gets Bronzed In Albanian Village Tribute
A tiny Albanian village that US President George W Bush visited in 2007 has unveiled a shirt-sleeved statue of him, in a square named for him.
The 9ft tall statue of the former president, raising his left hand in greeting, was unveiled in the square in Fushe Kruge, festooned with Albanian and American flags for the occasion.
"Albanians' pro-Americanism has its roots in our attempts... to build our deserved future as a free nation, as a free country," Prime Minister Sali Berisha told the crowd.
Mr Bush was the first US president to visit post-communist Albania, which is hoping to join the EU in the future.
Albanians have a special affection for the United States, which they credit with ending their country's Cold War isolation and leading Nato's 1999 bombing offensive that halted ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians by Serbian troops.
Washington was also a staunch supporter of Albania's drive to join Nato, which accepted it into the military alliance in 2009.
"He left his mother in the United States but he found a mother here," Thomaidha Kaziu, 72, who had seen Mr Bush in 2007 and was told the American leader had found a resemblance between her and his mother.
"I will not die without meeting him again," she said.
And here's the First Couple enjoying the Texas Rangers game last night!
