Kumbaro said in a social media post on Wednesday that the meeting focused on new priorities for the internationalisation of universities, while work continues on establishing the College of Europe campus in Tirana.

The campus aims to become a new international hub for university life in the capital, with the University of Tirana also expected to be part of the initiative, Kumbaro said.

The Education Minister described the project as a “campus of excellence” that would create more opportunities for academic cooperation and exchange, as well as for developing new ideas and projects.

Kumbaro said the campus was part of efforts to strengthen Tirana’s role as a meeting point for knowledge and education, fostering a more open environment for international cooperation and academic talent.

The project is also intended to expand the international dimension of higher education in Albania and strengthen academic ties with Europe.

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Speaking at the academic year opening ceremony attended by Prime Minister Edi Rama, Mogherini said the new cohort is made up of 52% women and 48% men.

“There are 24 nationalities represented, which is part of the story of this campus. Two-thirds of the students come from EU member states, and the most represented nationality is French,” she said, adding that gender balance in the group also reflects progress made in Albania.

Mogherini noted that 90% of students receive scholarships or financial assistance. “This is essential because we want students from different backgrounds. It is an invitation to our partners to continue supporting them so we can maintain this diversity,” she said.

She said the Tirana campus also hosts 32 professors living and working in Albania, all from a range of nationalities and professional backgrounds.

“This diversity tells us many things,” she said. “We are here to make European integration a success, and that requires three conditions: political will from candidate countries – which exists; political will within member states; and the capacity of societies, and their technical capacities, to carry out major reforms.”

Mogherini said the College’s mission is to bring together students and professors who not only study EU enlargement and Europe’s institutions but also “live the transformation processes” taking place in these countries.

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Rama admitted he hesitated to accept the invitation. “Standing here in Bruges is much harder than standing in Brussels,” he told students, “because it means facing history and legends, spirits whispering in every corridor.”

He urged students not to settle for clichés or bureaucratic checklists: “Bruges is not Brussels – come here to speak freely with free minds,” he said, describing the college as both a “temple of knowledge” and a “laboratory of Europe.”

Recalling Albania’s communist past and years of isolation after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rama spoke of his generation’s hard-won appreciation of freedom.

“We began our lives under the lunacy of dictatorship, fear disguised as normality, and isolation masked as sovereignty,” he said. “For us, Europe was not reality but a distant myth, a black-and-white dream flickering on TV screens.”

Rama quoted Albanian intellectual Jusuf Vrioni, who suffered under communist prisons: “Democracy had not yet arrived in Albania, but freedom had.”

The government head argued that without the European Union, building functioning democratic institutions in the Western Balkans would have taken decades, even centuries.

“Thank God the EU exists,” Rama said. “It is a blessing for Albania and our region. These may not be Europe’s finest days, but enlargement remains the only path forward. The Balkans are like a fetus in the womb of Europe – at last, I believe, we are on the right track.”

He concluded by affirming Albania’s commitment to European integration despite global instability: “For Albania, there is no alternative.”
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Attending the inauguration of two newly-rebuilt dormitories in Student City, the government head highlighted the presence of College of Europe campus in as a significant development for Albania’s EU outlook.

“The campus of the College of Europe, third campus after the ones in Bruges and Poland – which opened to support the wave of EU enlargement – is being built at this city. Albania and Tirana were not selected accidentally. Albania is a success story,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate that some refuse to acknowledge this just because they oppose the government. But thankfully, the majority understands it,” he said.

PM Rama said that the College of Europe’s presence will also increase prestige of the Student City, which will become as significant national and regional destination.

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“Today marks a new beginning for all of you. New friends, new city, new dreams, but this ceremony is also much more than the opening of a new academic year or a new campus. Because the College of Europe is much more than an ordinary university,” von der Leyen said.

When our continent still lay in ruins after World War II, a group of European pioneers came up with a visionary idea: Let us build an academy, to raise the leaders of tomorrow, that will unite Europe – a

Von der Leyen declared that the European family is preparing to enlarge.

“Once again, we are at a watershed moment for Europe. And once again, our family is preparing for a reunification,” she added.

The EC President commented on the progress of the accession negotiations, adding that all the clusters could open within next year.

“Just last week, for instance, Albania’s accession negotiations to join our Union have entered a new phase. Together, we opened the cluster on fundamentals and we discussed that if everything is done properly, all the clusters on accession negotiations could open within end of next year,” she said.

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College of Europe Rector Federica Mogherini said that opening the College in Tirana is a milestone achievement.

“Today we celebrate a milestone achievement.  The College of Europe students already feel at home as citizens of Tirana, citizens of this impressive city. Our decisions were adopted unanimously between the EU and the College of Europe,” Mogherini said in her remarks at the opening ceremony of the academic year of the College in the presence of Prime Minister Edi Rama and the visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Mogherini added that the College will work to prepare something more historic than establishment of the European Union, the reunification of our entire continent.

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The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Igli Hasani, who attended the ceremony, hailed the opening of the College of Europe branch in the Albanian capital as a step that makes European prospect more tangible.

Federica Mogherini, the Rector of the College of Europe, also attended the ceremony.

“We welcome the College of Europe’s training programme for the newly-recruited civil servants from Albania and the region. Such steps make our future within Europe more tangible. The College’s initiative represents a giant leap forward for young people from the Western Balkans,” Foreign Minister said.

Foreign Minister voiced confidence that Tirana campus of the esteemed College of Europe will put Tirana on the map of EU professionals.

“Some would argue that we have a troubled region under a long shadow of the past. We can’t alter the past, but we can do a lot about the future. I am confident that each and every one of you coming from the region will definitely feel the spirit of Europe here. Take advantage of such feeling and build bridges of cooperation that would strengthen our region,” Hasani said.

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Kapaj attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, where lawmakers discussed draft law on ratification of the agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the College of Europe on opening the Tirana campus of the College of Europe.

Presenting the bill, Kapaj said that the College has also signed an agreement with the University of Tirana regarding the College’s infrastructure.

Socialist lawmaker Etilda Gjonaj underlined that it is the first time that the College of Europe launches its campus outside the European Union.

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The agreement was signed by the Minister of Education and Sports Ogerta Manastirliu, the Rector of the University of Tirana, Artan Hoxha, and the Rector of the College of Europe, Federica Mogherini, at a ceremony also attended by Prime Minister Edi Rama, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood,  Olivér Várhelyi.

The Rector of the College of Europe, Federica Mogherini, said in her remarks during the ceremony that a growing number of young people are already expressing an increasing interest in attending the College. “The new academic year will begin with 31 students and a master degree program on European transformation and integration, particularly focusing on the European Union and the Western Balkans. We opened the enrollment process in October and I can report that we have received as many as 241 applications for 31 students from 41 nationalities from the whole region, the European Union member states and from 15 countries from other regions,” Mogherini said.

The College of Europe opens up a new horizon of education for young Albanians and not only, as it takes the challenge for the internationalization of our universities to a new level, providing, among other things, the opportunity for a deeper learning about the European Union itself and the path towards it.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Frankly speaking, I wasn’t prepared to deliver a speech here. However, I would like just to share with each and every one of you my deepest gratitude to Federica, who is following the project step by step and, on the other hand, I can’t help but express my satisfaction at the fact that Federica is coming to the point where we can offer her the Albanian citizenship. It will be more than an honor to consider her as an Albanian citizen.

To expand on what the Commissioner said about the large number of young people from EU member states, who wish to come to Tirana, this probably shows that coming to Albania from the EU can be a way more exciting than going from EU to EU. That’s why I think we are seeing such a large number.

Last but not least, I would like to thank the EU delegation to Albania and Enlargement Commissioner Várhelyi, who has worked all the time to ensure that things in all fronts are done as tangible as possible and most feasible in the region and of course the arrival of the College of Europe makes us very happy, it makes us very proud. So we are making a lot of efforts to ensure that an iconic facility is built and have a genuine European education destination, not only in terms of the education and degree programs, but also in terms of the visual aspect, the spatial aspect and the quality of life for students, from the classrooms to the dormitories, even though young people sleep less and less in Tirana, because the leisure time is always more attractive, especially after midnight.

Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Olivér Várhelyi: I haven’t prepared any speech for this occasion, but I am really impressed with the figures. Basically, the figures mean that Tirana will become even more popular than Bruges campus and the weather is much better here. That’s why I think that what is about to be built, from an architectural point of view too, will be something that will also greatly change the economic life here in the Balkans. As you have already seen, most of the applications come from the EU itself. This shows the extraordinary added value that this institution will have, not only for the Balkans, but also for us in the European Union. This means that the EU has arrived in Tirana.

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In attendance at the ceremony was also the Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama who expressed his gratitude to Federica Mogherini, rector of the College of Europe, who will soon receive Albanian citizenship.

“I express my deep gratitude to Mogherini who is following the project step by step. On the other hand, I am satisfied that she will obtain the Albanian citizenship. It is an honor to consider her as an Albanian citizen”, Rama said.

The Prime Minister Rama expressed grateful thanks to the EU Delegation in Tirana and EU Commissioner Varhelyi.

“EU Commissioner Varhelyi worked hard to ensure tangible results in the region, and of course the establishment of the College of Europe makes us very happy and proud”, he said.

“We are making every effort to ensure an iconic building and a true European educational destination, not only for programs, but also in terms of visual and spatial aspects, meeting quality of life standards for students from auditoriums to dormitories”, Rama concluded. //a.i/