TIRANA, Feb 15 /ATA/ Prime Minister Edi Rama was asked by CBS News reporter Olivia Gazis about former President Trump’s statements about NATO and whether he sees US support for Ukraine waning.
At the press conference with the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Rama said: “You are tricking me into something that I am afraid might be dangerous, because answering to your question, I have to melt in American politics, which is not very advisable when you are a friend with United States. “
“But I want to take advantage from your presence to invite you, maybe through your TV, to share with the American public a map of Mongolia. Following Mr. Putin’s interview and his reasoning on the legitimacy of attacking Ukraine that went back to 9th century – but if you dig a bit more, you’ll discover that Russia once upon a time was within the borders of Mongolia. So I know that Mongolians are a peaceful people, but I don’t think that – looking back to the maps and using history like a reason to attack other people, to take others’ lives, to destroy others’ houses, to break others’ future, is a quite insane exercise,” Rama said.
And being in that in that situation, Ukraine couldn’t survive so far without the United States, first and foremost, and all the other allies and friends who, by the way, are not eager to enter in war with Russia or with whomever, but have to protect Ukraine for protecting the world they believe in. Now, if you want me to have a take on the American Congress and Senate, I think I should not go there, because let’s say that the American politics nowadays is not at its best.
But one thing I can say, I had the privilege to be prime minister for Albania in NATO when the former president was there. And despite the rhetoric, despite the colorful way to confront adversaries, I don’t see that NATO was weakened. On the contrary, what was decided before continued to be the case. Every country continued to put more money and to put more effort in increasing the NATO budget. So now, elections are elections, Trump is Trump. American politics is American politics. But I think United States is something more than that. And what makes United States one of a kind in the – in our community of countries and of people all around the world is that United States cannot and will never, in my view, shy away from what are the principles and the values to be protected, whatever it takes. And so I’m not afraid of anything, but of stopping or wavering to continue and protect ourselves through protecting the right of Ukrainians to live in their country, to have their own house intact, to have their children grow there, and to have a common future with everyone else, without being threatened to be wiped out from maps based on ninth, thirteenth, fifteenth, whatever century. Because if this Pandora box opens then I can tell you we have a lot of maps in this region, but we have to see the future, and it’s only the future that will unite us.
So no, I don’t think that NATO will be weakened. I don’t think the United States will shy away from their role and from their leadership. I then that when elections will be over, American business is American business.
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