Hungary's 'Slavic-Looking' Skanderbeg Shocks Albanians

News that a monument to the Albanian national hero, Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbej/ Skanderbeg was to be erected in the central park of Budapest was initially welcomed by Albanians in the media.

However, the enthusiasm started to fade on July 25, when the Albanian ambassador to Hungary, Arian Spasse, together with the Hungarian sculptor, Mihaly Gabor, posed in front of the semi-finished monument - and pictures were distributed on the embassy's social networks.

Some Albanians were shocked by the appearance of the new sculpture of their national hero, seeing it as very different from the more traditional sculptures and images of him - such as the one in Tirana's main square.

The Dean of Fine Arts at the University of Tirana, Ardian Isufi, was the first to break the silence and to note that the features of this Skanderbeg did not look like those of an Albanian.

"I never have seen a more strikingly ambiguous Skanderbeg ... It might be a Hungarian, Bulgar or Serb but never an Albanian," he wrote on Facebook on July 27.

He called on Albania's foreign ministry to react, claiming that the features of the statute were part of consistent attempts to distort Albanian culture and history.

"I call on ... the foreign ministry to suggest that the Hungarian sculptor goes into the Vatican archives and examine the physiognomy of Skanderbeg ... since there are dozens of engravings that interpret him," Isufi suggested.

The post prompted a public outcry over the sculpture, which led the Albanian embassy in Hungary to remove the social media posts, while ambassador Spasse wrote on Facebook after the negative reaction that the statue was only in the modelling stage and would undergo changes.

"The presented model will undergo changes, taking on...