TIRANA, June 23/ATA/ The Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama participated today in the Economic Forum held in North Macedonia, where he spoke about the decision of the European Union member states not to set a date for the First Intergovernmental Conference with Albania and North Macedonia, due to the Bulgaria veto.
In his remarks, the Prime Minister Rama emphasized that, “I am here with my brother Zoran, after something new happened to me in Brussels and something that is not new for Zoran.”
“Once again we will have to wait, but for me this is not waiting, as always what we have to do is to move forward, not just to rely on what Brussels says, but to rely on ourselves, on our people, on our energy, and to do as much as possible to merge the missions into one mission, the peoples into one people, the countries into an area where there are no borders for cooperation and where the four freedoms of Europe are implemented,” the premier Rama said.
Our countries are small to live isolated from each other, to seek what our children and our children’s children deserve. But together we can achieve what they demand, i.e. spaces are bounded by our borders, they are not attractive enough to target a transformative change in term of the economy. But together we can turn it into an attractive area and it is up to us to make it a realistic area where everyone can be attracted to invest, to see economic development of the companies, people in this area.”
Asked if there are discussions on the arbitration agreement and other bilateral issues between Greece and Albania, Prime Minister Rama said that “first, they are not related to each other. Second, there are issues between us, but I do not want to talk about issues as a problem, but I want to talk about issues as an opportunity, because the more we address them, the better it will be for us and our people.”
“When it comes to the issue of the maritime border, we have decided to go to court and we are glad that the Greek side accepted this, it was my first alternative since when I took over as the Prime Minister. Because we are Balkan people, we are Mediterranean people, we are passionate people and it is difficult to be objective when we have to discuss an issue. Thus we need an arbitrator. This will follow its own path,” the Prime Minister Rama said.
Asked about good relations with Turkey, Prime Minister Rama said, “everyone should have good relations with Turkey and I think that Greece should have good relations with Turkey too, the EU should have good relations with Turkey, because it is absolutely in the interest of both parties.”
Touching on the disagreement over setting a date for the First Intergovernmental Conference, the Prime Minister Rama said that we did not fail, but they failed.
“They have their reasons and I understand. It is their home. We still do not have shares in that house. We are the Europe, not the European Union. We are surrounded by its borders and we are not yet part of their home. The only problem I have with them, is that they could have always said, we honestly love you, we want you to come in, but we have some things we need to solve in advance, so the rooms are not ready for you yet, “ the Prime Minister Rama said.
“What do you mean you’re not ready. This is not true. That’s the only thing I disagree with. They could have said: you have done the work you were required, but we are not ready,” the premier Rama added. //a.i/
