“If Erion Veliaj has committed corruption, he should face the consequences like anyone else who commits corruption. But the charge of corruption must be based on solid evidence, not just because you were on a plane with someone and appointed his wife as deputy minister. How can you prove that? We are a small country. We know each other, we meet, we work,” said Rama.

The PM added, “We are not Germany, Switzerland, or France, which have had their declaration systems and banking systems for as long as anyone can remember. We are the country with the largest amount of cash in Europe because a large portion of the people still don’t trust banks, as they were traumatized by the dictatorship. There are two great sins of capitalism. Two of the greatest evils: banks and taxes.”

Rama emphasized, “We are a country where, aside from public administration workers and businesses, no one declares their assets or income, as we are still in a developmental phase. We are not a fully consolidated democracy; we are a new democracy.”

Rama said, “How did it become a trend here to look for a speck in someone’s eye and then ignore the beam in your own? Public employees are not all under reasonable suspicion of theft; this is unacceptable and is the logic of the blind on social media. We need to separate these issues. The fight against corruption is a fight with corruption, not against individuals.”

Rama added that he does not negotiate his ideals, emphasizing that he has come out to overturn the system where the State Security controlled matters using such methods.
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