Euronews EU Enlargement Summit, Rama: A platform for EU-Western Balkans dialogue
Prime Minister Edi Rama took part in the Euronews EU Enlargement Summit, an important television event organized by Euronews, which brings together the leaders of EU member and candidate countries, as a new dialogue platform to discuss the future of the European integration process.
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- Now as we promised, we will talk to all the leaders involved in this process and there is one country that we have not talked to yet and that is Albania, but you heard it from the Commissioner herself, countries that she believes are forerunners, are Albania and Montenegro. So I am happy to say that joining us now, even though he could not be here, things that happen in politics, last minute, but he is with us now, the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, who is just joining us now, online and will be interviewed by my colleague.
- We will continue the talks on EU enlargement at this historic summit on European Union enlargement. Last but not least, the leading country here, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama. Thank you very much for joining us. Can you hear me?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Yes, I can hear you. Good evening and sorry that I couldn't be there with you. Actually, it wasn't anything last-minute political, it was a technical air problem that I had nothing to do with, but I couldn't take the plane.
- We hope that next time you will have the opportunity to come here in person and for today we thank you for joining us online for this new Euronews format which is ''12 minutes with Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania''. Thank you for being here. As you heard today from the report and from Marta Kos, Albania is indeed one of the frontrunners and the accession talks have reached an unprecedented peak this year, in preparation for the opening of the last Group Chapter, being very advanced. This report looks very positive to you. How do you see it? What is your opinion on this?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Yes, the report is very positive. The whole year has been very positive. We have opened 5 out of 6 Group Chapters within just 11 months, which is an absolute record in terms of speed. It is something that just a few years ago, we could not even imagine, but that is why life is so beautiful.
- But what is the secret? Why don't you share this secret with the other candidate countries? What was the key factor? What was your secret that accelerated it so much?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Then, in addition to the usual thing related to hard work, I would also add that speed is related to two main factors: on the one hand, during what I call the ''years of humiliation'', those years where the European Union Commission recommended the Council to open accession negotiations with Albania and we were rejected by several countries, we stubbornly prepared for the moment of opening and trained in the strongest possible way with the entire team, telling ourselves; ''our moment to show who we really are will come and for that moment, we must be ready''. And in fact, when the moment arrived, we were much more advanced than perhaps the others, at that moment of opening.
- Considering that this has been a really long moment for Albania, it's been 16 years now, you've talked before about those ever-moving objectives of Brussels. Do you think that has changed and is there a new impetus and this situation is over, not only for Albania but also for the other candidates in the region because they have also been waiting for a very long time?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Here comes factor number 2, which is precisely Brussels, which changed its approach and ''woke up''. Unfortunately, it took an aggression on European soil, a military aggression to make Brussels ''wake up'', not only at the Commission level where we have always found justice, very painful, very neurotic but fair, but also at the Council level, where the words that were said to us before; ''yes, one day we will be together; yes, we love you; yes, we will ''get married'' but we are not ready to talk about it yet'', ended. The new momentum is still present and the new approach is still ongoing. I really hope it does not fade and I really hope that eventually, we will sit together around the same table.
-Yes, I was just going to ask you, if this culminating moment and this situation of a more serious commitment, as described, will last or not, Albania is considered one of the forerunners. Your objective is to enter the EU by 2030. How do you see this situation with moving targets, so do you see this situation changing from Brussels or not changing for other countries in the region?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Did I understand the last part of the question?
- I repeat, Mr. Prime Minister, you said...
Prime Minister Edi Rama: I know what I said, but I don't know what you said.
- The question was whether you feel that this change from Brussels is being implemented and seen by other countries in your region.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: You should ask Brussels about this, but as far as I'm concerned, I can tell you that 2030 is not a date I dreamed of, but a deadline that comes as a result of a very simple calculation. We start from the fact that together with the Commission, in full consensus with the Commission, we have agreed on a calendar that is quite ambitious, but doable, homework for us, to close the membership talks, the negotiations by 2027. There is a possibility of doing it even sooner in the first half of 2027, but let's say at the end of 2027. Then the average time that we have estimated when it comes to the ratification of the decision by the 27 parliaments is about 2 years and so we anticipate that Albania will sit around the EU table in 2030. Of course, we are not at all against being there and sooner.
Now when it comes to the region, as such, I would completely agree and echo the words of David McAllister earlier, who said that this is a very merit-based process, everyone has their own journey and everyone has to fulfill their own obligations and do their own homework. And there are different characteristics in the region, there are different countries, there are different histories, and so on, when it comes to us I can say out loud that we are the most Euro-optimistic nation in Europe, or as Donald Trump would say, on Earth.
- Prime Minister, there is a specific focus from Brussels, and this is in the rest of the report with the focus from Brussels on the issue of corruption. In fact, we can say that Albania is the first country in the world to have appointed a minister of artificial intelligence with the specific task of fighting corruption, can you give us an update. How is Diella doing? How is her fight and yours going?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Before we go to the Sun and its fight, let me remind you and everyone who has the patience to follow this long day of yours, for which I am very grateful, that Albania is doing something unprecedented and unique in the entire region, our justice reform and the recognition on our part, not only "de jure", but also "de facto" of the independence of justice and the full activity of the special structure against organized crime and corruption has practically created in Albania and for Albania, the example that the fight against corruption is something that goes far beyond words, far beyond the surfaces, goes very deep and is extremely balanced without looking to the left or the right, regardless of who is in government, who is in opposition, who has been in power or who is in power and with many facts that show that what had never happened in Albania, since independence, the creation of the first Albanian state in 1912, until very few years ago, something has been happening in recent years that no other country in the region can claim to have done. And this is not to say that we are better than others, but it is to say that we have taken it very seriously and at this point in time, we accept support, we accept partnership, we accept help, but we do not accept lectures from anyone when it comes to the fight against corruption.
Of course, when it comes to Diella, it is the product of a systemic struggle that is not just about fighting cases or fighting in the courts, but fighting through modernization and by 2027, we aim to have the complete system, based on artificial intelligence of public procurement that will allow speed, transparency and accuracy at levels never seen before.
- Prime Minister, finally, let me conclude by asking you another question. What is the other creative idea? What is the other creative solution that comes from you and Albania on your journey towards membership in the European Union?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: I'm sure you've heard that Diella is pregnant and is pregnant with 83 babies based on the latest ultrasound. So we have to wait for these 83 babies to be born and in the meantime I want to tell you something that hasn't been discussed much that we are the only country in this process that has used artificial intelligence in the transfer of the acquis communautaire to our legal corpus, making the process faster than ever, not only in terms of translation, but also in terms of impact analysis and drafting and preparing all legal packages for approval in Parliament. So we are trying to run as fast as possible, and to take big steps as much as possible, using technology, artificial intelligence, but without ever forgetting that our place in Europe, first and foremost, is deserved, because Europe has the best place in the hearts of the Albanian people, something that others do not claim.
-Mr. Prime Minister, to follow up on this question, do you think Brussels could use an Artificial Intelligence Commissioner?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: It's not up to me to tell Brussels what to do, but I would certainly be very happy to introduce Diella to anyone from the EU who will introduce themselves as the commissioner for artificial intelligence or as a technocrat or bureaucrat for artificial intelligence, it doesn't really matter.
-Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for this interview and for your time. Thank you very much for joining us. These were 12 minutes with Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania.
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