“Europe must not isolate itself, it must change”, Rama tells WELT: the EU risks becoming a “Titanic”

Prime Minister Edi Rama has spoken in an interview with Germany’s “Welt am Sonntag” about the future of the European Union, Albania’s integration process, geopolitical developments in the Balkans and the economic and demographic challenges facing Europe. Rama compared the EU to the “Titanic” heading toward an iceberg, arguing that Europe must increase its competitiveness, innovation and its ability to take strategic decisions.

During the interview, the prime minister also spoke about EU enlargement and Albania’s membership, stressing that the country wants to become part of the Union, while also supporting the abolition of the right of veto, arguing that a single state should not be able to block decision-making for the whole of Europe. He also commented on relations with China, Russia and Turkey, as well as the challenges linked to emigration and the ageing of the European population.

Part of the interview was also devoted to the political situation in Albania, the fight against corruption and SPAK’s investigations of senior officials. Rama declared that the country is in the final phase of the process of fighting corruption and said that his political responsibility lies in the fact that Albanian institutions can now hold officials to account.

Also in focus was the luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner and the “Flamingo Revolution” protests. Rama said the protesters’ concerns are legitimate, but rejected the accusations against the government, stressing that there is still no final contract and that the environmental impact assessment is still under way. Speaking about the international attention on the protests, he also mentioned American Democrats, saying that if they could not defeat Donald Trump in the U.S., they should not come to Albania “to take revenge”.

THE INTERVIEW

WELT AM SONNTAG: Mr Prime Minister, you have compared the European Union to the “Titanic” heading toward an iceberg. Why? Rama: The iceberg has already been identified by the great European Mario Draghi. The EU is less innovative and competitive than the other big players and lacks the ability to take bold and strategic decisions. If nothing changes, it turns into a “Titanic”.

WELT AM SONNTAG: And yet you want to join as soon as possible. Rama: Not only I — everyone in Albania wants this. The EU is the most visionary political project ever conceived. It has made it possible for entire generations to grow up without war. How can you not want to be part of it — or be so foolish as to say we want to leave it again?

WELT AM SONNTAG: What can Albania offer the EU? Rama: With 2.5 million inhabitants, we are too small to have a big impact. But we can strengthen Europe. At the moment it is an organism with a dangerous hole in it.

WELT AM SONNTAG: What do you mean? Rama: Look at the map. Countries usually have only one border, which runs around them. Europe also has a second one, inside it. The hole in the middle of Europe is the Western Balkans. There are forces trying to tear us away.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Do you mean China with its investments, and Russia and Turkey, which seek political influence? Rama: Those are clichés. Yes, Russia is a real threat. But China does not have an imperialist agenda; it is simply a reality that everyone has to face. No danger comes to the Western Balkans from Turkey. I see only a brotherly intervention for stability and peace.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Chinese loans almost drove your neighbouring country, Montenegro, toward state bankruptcy. Rama: We do not have that problem in Albania. Our relationship with Beijing is more distant, because we had close ties in the worst period, during the Cultural Revolution. But today I admire China. Its zeal, its meritocracy. Europe must not isolate itself, but must regain the ability to have relations with everyone.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Coming back to the “hole” in Europe, what exactly is the risk? Rama: An open belly is a bad thing. There is a risk of infections, wounds and decay. Russia is a virus. Radical Islam is a virus. Crime is a virus. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has seven children. We are also seven — seven states that want to enter the EU. Is it better to let the children grow up inside the family or to leave them outside until they grow up? Of course, a child at the table has fewer rights. He cannot demand everything. But outside, the dangers are great. One child befriends Russian gangsters. Another becomes addicted to Chinese toys. The third child discovers extremism and blows up the neighbourhood.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The year 2030 is mentioned as a possible date for membership. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has offered to speed up the process, for example through gradual access to the EU’s common market. Would that be useful? Rama: Your Chancellor, and Europe as a whole, must rediscover the courage of Helmut Kohl. When the Wall fell in 1989, Kohl did not tell the East Germans: now you have 33 negotiating chapters and then we will accept you. On the contrary, he said: we are all in the same boat.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Should the EU turn a blind eye to problems for geopolitical reasons? Rama: The EU should ask even more homework of us. But we want to be part of it. Look at Ukraine. What is promised to Ukraine is a lie. On the usual path to membership, fulfilling all the criteria, it will never be accepted. Everyone knows this. What would be realistic is for Ukraine to sit at the table right now and, through a performance-based process, be given full membership.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Even today, with 27 member states, the EU finds it hard to take decisions. What will happen when it enlarges further? Rama: Of course it would be risky to accept new countries that could block decision-making. In any case, I would commit to abolishing the right of veto. If Europe is to compete with China, the U.S. and India, it is absurd that a single member country can block everything.

WELT AM SONNTAG: In Albania corruption continues to be a problem, the head of the Intelligence Service has been arrested and there are many other cases of investigations and convictions. What are you doing about this? Rama: Albania was a country where corruption was the system itself. Today Albania is a country where the system fights corruption. We are in the final phase of cleansing the country.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The anti-corruption structure, SPAK, under the supervision of the U.S. and the EU, is acting harshly against senior officials. Is it working? Rama: It is partly painful. Not all procedures, in my opinion, comply with European standards. Albania has the highest percentage of pre-trial detainees on the continent. But this is part of a difficult and unavoidable process. We must receive credit for this.

WELT AM SONNTAG: There are voices calling on you to take political responsibility, given the arrests and convictions of people in your circle… Rama: Before I took office, since 1912, when our state was founded, not a single minister in Albania had ever appeared before an independent prosecutor. I am proud that our country is now able to hold people to account, wherever they are. That is my political responsibility.

WELT AM SONNTAG: But there seems to be a lack of trust. For months, citizens have been protesting in front of your government headquarters. The trigger was the planned luxury resort project by Jared Kushner, the American president’s son-in-law. The protesters accuse you of selling Albania. Rama: We live in a world where there is always someone angry. Every democracy suffers from this. The protesters have legitimate concerns, which I do not deny. But they are incited by lies and conspiracy theories.

WELT AM SONNTAG: This project involves four billion dollars, a gigantic sum. You have contributed significantly through your contacts with the American president. Where do you draw the line between economic diplomacy and a system that depends too much on your personal relationships? Rama: You too are a victim of a narrative that is constantly repeated. When all this started, Trump was no longer in office; he could have ended up in prison or he could have returned to the White House. Moreover, there is still no final contract; we are continuing negotiations. The environmental impact assessment is also still under way. And in fact there are two separate projects. One is on an island that is public property. Only eight percent of this island can be built on, and the island will remain public property. The other project is on a peninsula that is private property. If you brought foreign capital into Germany, would you say that Germany is being sold? Would you say: Germany belongs to the Germans? I represent my country’s interests and I will continue to do so.

WELT AM SONNTAG: So why is the project being criticised internationally? Rama: It is the long shadow of Donald Trump that has brought here all the world’s media and the entire left. I have told my Democratic friends in America: if you cannot defeat Trump in America, do not come to Albania to take revenge. This is not fair.

WELT AM SONNTAG: How did you start this project? In the EU a public tender would be required. Rama: Even in the EU no public tender is needed to invest in a private property. The owners must sell the property or give their approval for its development. That’s all.

WELT AM SONNTAG: With 3.5%, Albania has high economic growth. Impressive buildings are rising all over Tirana. But wages are low and prices are high. Many people are leaving the country. Rama: Many young Germans today also cannot afford to buy a home. When I took office as prime minister, per capita income was less than 3,000 dollars. Today we are at almost 12,500 dollars. Yes, young people emigrate. This is Europe — movement within a large labour market. When wages reach a comparable level, they will return.

WELT AM SONNTAG: What is your economic vision? Rama: We have sunny weather, which you do not have in Germany. We have fantastic food and hospitality. We have rivers and we produce our electricity entirely from renewable sources. We will be innovative and we will grow. The question is not what Albania will do, but what Europe will do.

WELT AM SONNTAG: What should Europe do? Rama: A harsh demographic winter awaits us all; the population is ageing more and more. We must talk about what kind of emigration we need and what emigration we want, but we must talk like adults. Whoever uses this issue as a political football to create phantoms of fear may win elections in the short term. But that is not statesmanship. It is like playing music on the deck of the “Titanic”.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Italy built migrant centres in Albania two years ago. Brussels meanwhile allows asylum requests to be processed through third countries. Are you offering Germany the opportunity to build such centres? Rama: Italy is not only a particularly close partner, it is our European alter ego. But to others we say no, because third-country centres alone are not the solution. There are much bigger problems. And now artificial intelligence has been added. While the Chinese and the Americans are sprinting ahead, people in Europe are quarrelling over a migrant centre in Albania for a handful of migrants. This is absurd.