The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Edi Rama in Madrid, while the former Spanish prime minister Felipe González was also present.

While taking the floor after the signing ceremony of the agreement, PM Rama said that the country has gone through a reform to cleanse the justice system of corrupt judges and prosecutors.

“The re-evaluation process has got attention. Ever since we have a state and we are a new state, after we gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, we have a judiciary that is not in the hands of politics”, stated Rama.

Rama emphasized that now even people from the ruling majority are being held accountable before justice.

“At present, we are witnessing people from our majority being held accountable before justice. We knew this and we do not regret it”, said Rama.

Further on, he emphasized that Albania is far from being as they say, a country persecuted by the stigma of being a gloomy country.

“The sun is shining in Albania!”, said Rama.

Rama said that Albania comes from a difficult past, where there was no rule of law or independent justice.

“In our quest for justice, the recent history of Spain and the Spanish model have been a model of inspiration,” he said. /r.e/p.s./

This prestigious international award is conferred on individuals with precious contribution to promotion and enhancement of Spanish culture, language and heritage worldwide.

According to the official agenda revealed by the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday, at the start of his visit to Madrid, the Albanian government head will be welcomed by Spanish King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid. Spanish King Felipe VI will then host PM Rama during a royal audience.

PM Rama announced earlier today that Albania has secured the 2027 World Law Congress, a major global event that underscores the country’s judicial reforms, calling it a proud moment for Albania’s legal progress.

The agreement on the World Law Congress Albania 2027 will be signed during the visit.

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In the “Flasim” (Let’s Talk) podcast where the guests were an Albanian-Lebanese couple, Prime Minister Edi Rama took the opportunity to speak about Albania’s participation in the international tourism fair in Madrid, while emphasizing that our country was also being promoted at the stands of Argentina and Chile.

“We were at the tourism fair in Madrid. At the stands, in those spaces of Argentina and Chile, there were pictures of Berat and Ksamil. And their operators at the stands of Argentina and Chile said that Albania is one of the new destinations”, he said.

Meanwhile, PM Rama said that the attention is now focused on mountain tourism.

“It was very clearly seen that while we are obsessed with the sea and the beach, the mountains of Albania are an extraordinary part of our wealth. They have started to discover them and there are many people who go there. We are still lacking the quality, hotels, infrastructures in those areas, but even those few that that are, are full. The more there are built, the more they will be needed,” Rama said.

During the year 2023, 10.1 million tourists visited Albania. /m.m/p.s./

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– Welcome Prime Minister, Minister!

We are honoured to have you with us today at this event, at this very successful FITUR trade fair, as you might have witnessed it for yourselves. As an important partner of the country and for Albania’s tourism development, we are very keen to host this conversation with you and we are very pleased to have you here and to share such a thing with us. I would like to start with the Prime Minister.

Albania, as everyone already knows, is one of the hidden or not so hidden treasures on the Adriatic and a wider region, on the Mediterranean. Prime Minister, how do you see development of your country’s tourism sector now and in the next two or three years?

Prime Minister Edi Rama: First and foremost, thank you so much. I am very honoured to be here. I can openly and undoubtedly state that Melia international hotel chain is one of our most precious partners along this path. It is pretty encouraging to see Melia’s eagerness to promote and spread its brand name throughout the country and, if I am not mistaken, it has already signed ten activity contracts and this fact is really significant to us.

On the other hand, it is equally important to be here, because we have witnessed, last year in particular, a significant growth in the number of Spanish tourists visiting Albania. By the way, as you might have perhaps noticed, I have some back pain problems and yesterday therefore I had to see the physiotherapist, who said: “Two days ago, my girlfriend booked a trip to Albania together with me and her family, and I am now helping you to manage the back pain.” This would have been totally impossible for one to imagine just a few years ago, when, as you already put it, it was an extremely hidden destination. Now it is no longer hidden and a growing number of people are seeking to visit the country. Last year, Tirana airport saw the highest growth in terms of passenger numbers in Europe, according to the Civil Aviation data and, according to the World Tourism Organization data, Albania ranked third globally in terms of tourism sector growth after Qatar and Saudi Arabia. So, third without being a host country of the World Football Championship and without Mecca and as such it is really a great result.

– Focusing on efforts to grow as a tourist destination you are seeking to become a sustainable tourism development and this has been clearly stated on the National Tourism Development Strategy, and you are the Minister of Tourism and Environment.

The Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro: It was actually the Prime Minister’s choice to organize and merge tourism and environment in one ministry.

-It is my impression that you represent Europe’s only case in this aspect and this is important to us. Prime Minister, how are you focusing on your country’s sustainable development?

PM Edi Rama: First of all, I would like to say something about Gabriel’s comment, because I saw him somehow like this when he told me that Melia would be the leading group in Albania. It is true, because we are like Thomas the Apostle as we refuse to believe without direct personal experience, without putting a hand on it. Now that we are experiencing and touching it, we are very happy to believe based on evidence and not only on the supposition that something big will happen. This comment was to again congratulate Gabriel and the Melia group as they have been truly fantastic ones.

By the way, I have to say that other Spanish groups approached to us and I am pretty sure that it is no longer a problem for them to imagine and think about investing in Albania, because they have already seen that someone else has done it before them and for our countries, which stand between being hidden and the ambition to reveal themselves, the ones who break the ice are very important. Melia has turned out to be an incredible icebreaker. As far as sustainability is concerned, it has been a big challenge. We have to be very cautious about development as we need to balance the present and the future.

-A question for the Prime Minister. What are the guarantees your country offers in terms of safety, security or movement within the country, since you said that Albania is home to a landscape of mountains, rivers and so on and so forth. What is the image you would send to those who wish to visit or the investors in your country?

Prime Minister Edi Rama: I don’t speak Spanish, yet I think I understood it. Let’s see what I have understood. It is indeed, among other things, a completely different country from the perception that has prevailed for years and years when it comes to security. I will give you just one example. Based on EU statistics, we are the country with the lowest number of burglaries in Europe. The leading country is Great Britain. They attribute this finding to the fact that the Albanians have gone there, but I doubt that.

Secondly, and this is really important, in our country hospitality is a religion. Perhaps very, very few cases which are proof of the rule that is enshrined in the first Albanian Constitution of the Middle Ages, that the house of the Albanian belongs to God and friend, and as long as God has not yet appeared in himself, then the friend is his closest image. For this reason, you should treat your friend as God. This is how you should treat your friend in Albania. So Albania is not only beautiful, but it is also safe. Safety is one of the elements acknowledged by most of the tourists, when asked about Albania, especially tourists coming from Western European cities. When you ask them about Albania, they say they liked the people, the food and found our country very safe. In this regard we are okay and I must say that we still have issues with bureaucracy, yet again bureaucratic procedures are many times faster than the EU, because we are not yet in the EU, but once we get there, I am not convinced that we will be as fast as now.

Gabriel Escarrer Jaume: If I may, Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to complete what you already said. I have visited Albania frequently and twice together with my family. So, do you really think I would ever take my family with me if I were to sense the slightest threat in terms of safety?

PM Edi Rama: I can testify to it. No bodyguards at all!

Gabriel Escarrer Jaume: No, no! We run three hotels in Albania and no security or safety issues of whatsoever have been ever recorded in any of them.

-Thank you so much!

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In an interview from Madrid, after opening of the fair, Prime Minister Edi Rama said that Albania is now in another level.

“It is up to us to present ourselves with taste at this level. We are neither Italy nor Spain, but we are nevertheless a country that is actually in everyone’s attention”, he said.

Rama said that this fair precedes the great Berlin Fair, where Albania will take the baton of next host country, something unimaginable a few years ago.

“That is why it is important that we are here today and that is why it is important to give this effort all the institutional support because it is also an indicator of the seriousness with which we take the challenge of tourism Albania 2030. So, in this context, even the meetings we are having are important. It is very encouraging that all those who ask to meet with us today, until recently, did not even have any interest in Albania, so it is good for us”, he added.

While highlighting the record of 10 million tourists in 2023, Rama expressed his belief that, “Without doubt, this year we will have a further increase in the number of tourists. This is confirmed by the operators who are here and who have practically closed reservations for 2025, as well “.

“On the other hand, we have to push much harder for new investments because otherwise we will find ourselves in an undesirable and unpleasant situation between a demand that grows and an offer that cannot grow in proportion to the demand. So, this is a process and I believe we are on the right path, but the most important thing is that the present-day Albania is something completely different in everyone’s eyes and this helps us tremendously”, he added./m.m/p.s./

The Rector of the National University of Distance Education, Ricardo Mairal, who also represents the University of Madrid, said that the visit will help efforts to further boost educational cooperation and exchanges between the two nations and countries.

“I can really imagine a near future when the two countries will share knowledge, expertise, scientific research, mobility and cultural views. This is why your today’s visit highlights our genuine commitment, our project to build a world, where research takes place without borders, where education can become the universal language that connects us with one another.

As I already noted, Mr. Prime Minister, we are truly honored to have you here and launch together such a stimulating project, which means a lot for both countries and the University of Madrid in particular that I am honored to represent today,” the UNED Rector Ricardo Mairal said.

On his part, Prime Minister Rama pointed out the fresh opportunities of mutual cooperation in the future, when the doors of the universities will be open to students from the respective countries.

“This is one of our top priorities, ensuring that our universities emerge from that self-referring domain and sign such agreements to provide our students the opportunity to receive high quality education and attend the best degree programs without having to leave the country.

In the meantime, it is so good to imagine a future when European students attend higher education in Albania thanks to these universities. This is one of the main results we are seeking to deliver on.

Similarly, we have already signed very good accords with several universities. The College of Europe has been opened in Albania, which is also very important. It is indeed the second campus of the College of Europe after the one opened first in Poland. We are looking forward to seeing the new campus opened and I am pretty sure your colleagues will really enjoy visiting Albania,” PM Rama said during the meeting.

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PM Rama held a one-to-one meeting with PM Sánchez in the premier’s office. Further on, there was held an extended bilateral meeting of the two delegations.

Albania’s delegation is composed by Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro, as well as some of the mayors of our country: Mayor of Durrës Emiriana Sako, Mayor of Lezha Pjerin Ndreu, Mayor of Gjirokastra Flamur Golemi and Mayor of Saranda Oltion Çaçi.

On Wednesday, PM Rama will participate in the opening of the International Tourism Fair “FITUR 24” which will be held by the King of Spain Felipe VI. There will be presented the rich touristic diversity of our country as a unique destination to be promoted and visited.

During participation in the fair, PM Rama will have the opportunity to meet with entrepreneurs and leaders of prestigious world companies, as well as representatives of the World Tourism Organization. /m.m/p.s./

Defence Minister Peleshi, part of the Albanian high-level delegation headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, said that the NATO Summit made a series of important decisions on the course of the Alliance in the face of a fragile security situation.

“Special attention was attached to the Western Balkans during the Summit proceedings as a region of strategic importance to the Alliance. The NATO’s new strategic concept will further strengthen security and defence in Europe,” Peleshi said on a post via social networks.

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Minister Xhaçka will hold meetings with counterparts from Finland, the Netherlands and Norway.

The NATO summit will focus among other things on continuation of support for Ukraine for a longer period, as well as the agreement on the Strategic Concept 2022./j.p/r.e/p.s./

“I closely inspected every stand, in detail; I was introduced with the new production and processing processes and the entire value chain in agriculture, global trends, innovative technologies which amin to increase orientation, safety, productivity for farmers but also the way of doing business in this sector, globally,” Krifca said.

The Minister Krifca stressed that, “we intend to put Albania on the map of quality exporters in Europe, thus the presence and contacts in this event were valuable to build new markets for our producers and to do great work.”

Agriculture in Albania has experienced steady growth in recent years, creating a significant impact on the country’s GDP. Agricultural activity is oriented towards products with competitive advantages, to meet domestic and exports needs. //a.i/