Rama: EU must not leave the Western Balkans in the mud again, otherwise it will be its biggest failure

Prime Minister Edi Rama has called on the European Union not to leave the Western Balkans in the mud again, stressing that a failure of the region’s integration process would be a major failure for Europe itself.

Speaking at the Interparliamentary Conference “Strategic agenda for EU enlargement and Albania’s membership”, Rama said Albania is “in love” with the European Union and that support for Europe remains strong in the country.

“Compared to EU countries, we have a big advantage, as Albania still loves the EU and it is not exactly like that in your countries, where it is mostly taken for granted, while we are entirely very engaged. Beyond our internal discussions in the country, on one thing we have always agreed: we love Europe and we want to be inside it. We want you not to leave us in the mud again, because if the Western Balkans is left in the mud, this will be Europe’s major failure,” Rama said.

Rama stressed that the region should be part of the tables where Europe’s challenges are discussed. He asked that Western Balkan countries be included not only in moments of crisis, but be part of European discussions also when common challenges are addressed.

Rama said Albania has made great progress over the past decade and that citizens’ expectations for the country’s future have risen. According to him, this change constitutes a “revolution of rising expectations”, as citizens believe the country has the ability to move further and change.

“When we talk about this moment in Albania, you have been quite amused lately by the flamingos and the beautiful photos they shared from the tops of their parliament. This is the best example of the moment we are going through. We believe Albania has made enough progress in the past decade and has moved from an era when people always thought things could get worse, we are now in a new era, where people think things can get better.

This is a revolution of rising expectations. People think the country has the ability to go even higher and can become different. Many things are moving and there is visible development for everyone. Regarding the uncertainties that today’s time gives in our space of democracy, this great confusion between freedom of speech and freedom of access has led to a kind of pressure coming from a lot of inaccurate news and many conspiracy theories, which have added to the heavy social burden,” Rama said.