In a joint media briefing alongside the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, Rama said that, “I want to thank first and foremost the president of the Commission Mrs. Ursula, who knew how to become a German-Balkan presence in this building and to fight for both, for the EU and for the Western Balkans, to fight for all the member states and for us, the countries aspiring to be members.”

“Meanwhile, I want to thank another German lady who is not any more in business, but without her we would not be here today, Mrs. Angela Merkel. She just had her birthday and I want to wish her all the very best”, Rama emphasized.

“And in the meantime, it goes without saying that we would not have been here today without the extra effort of the French President and the French Presidency, Emanuel and his team who worked tirelessly, especially during the NATO Summit, day and night, I witnessed it, to get to the final French proposal, which opened the way for unblocking an absurd situation,” said Rama.

“So many thanks to the Albanian people, who never gave up on the dream to pursue the European path and thanks to whom we could stand strong despite 3 very complicated years, when the refusals of the European Council on the one hand and the earthquake, the pandemic, the war, on the other, made a perfect storm, but made us stronger,” emphasized Rama.

“I want to thank wholeheartedly Peter, who made the way from Prague to Brussels today to be with us today and witness the will of the Czech Presidency to keep pushing the Western Balkans towards full integration,” said Rama.

“We know this is not the beginning of the end, but this is just the end of the beginning, anyway it is how it is and it’s fine the way it is. We simply need to build a strong democratic European Albania and a strong, democratic Western and Open Balkans, thank you,” said Rama.