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From literature school to an interview with Queen Geraldine, Blendi Fevziu talks about life at "Elevate"

Politiko 2025-07-03 19:35:42

From literature school to an interview with Queen Geraldine, Blendi Fevziu talks

In a story for the show "Elevate by Floriana Garo", journalist Blendi Fevziu told the story of his life, from the period of graduating from the Faculty of Literature, the choices he had to make in life to his successes and the profession of journalist.

Fevziu has revealed that he completed his studies in literature and the path to journalism was completely accidental for him.

"I graduated in literature and not journalism, because journalism did not exist in communist Albania. At that time, I thought that literature would be my life and my future, I did not think about journalism at all. In 1989, when I was a student, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Studenti" called me and asked me why I did not help with the newspaper voluntarily, and that's how it started," said Fevziu, describing the decision to enter journalism as completely random.

Fevziu then spoke about the important milestones that have left a mark on his professional life, while sharing for the first time details from the interview with Queen Geraldine in May 1999 and the 'message' she left him to return to Albania.

"This was Queen Geraldine's first interview for an Albanian media outlet. She gave an interview, where I tried to get as much as possible and she tried to give as much as possible, but her lungs wouldn't let me. We would interrupt the interview, she would put on the breathing apparatus, take 15 minutes of oxygen until her breathing stabilized, and they would do a 5-6 minute interview. Then she would put the apparatus back on. And I tried to get as much as possible, about 40 minutes of interview. At the end of the interview, she grabbed my hand and said: 'You have influence in Albania. Please do what is possible because I want to die in Albania. I feel that death has come to me and I want to die in Albania,'" said Fevziu.

Fevziu also says that when the interview was broadcast, a group of influential MPs at that time took an initiative to allow the royal family to return to Albania.

"The next day, the day after Queen Geraldine's interview was broadcast, a group of MPs took an initiative to allow the royal family to return to Albania. It took three years for this to happen. In June 2002, Geraldine returned to Albania. Queen Geraldine arrived at the airport, was placed in a white limousine, and over 5,000 people were cheering on both sides of the road, "Geraldine! Geraldine!" She was sick, but she managed to stand up and sit on the window of the limousine, went into her house and never came out again. But her dream of dying in Albania came true," said Fevziu.

While providing some additional details about the journalist's profession and life, Fevziu stated that he had had surprising offers regarding work but chose to pursue his current profession, describing the latter as challenging but also very motivating at the same time.

Full interview: