15:48 07/12/2022
“It would make Europeans dream big again”
Prime Minister Edi Rama has proposed to the friends he welcomed at the December 6 Summit in Tirana to think about a project that includes the rebirth of the old continent.
“Isn’t it time for the European Union to take the leadership to prepare together with its allies, of course, not only a plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine, but a tangible program of European Renewal for our entire continent(?); a plan that would make the citizens of Europe have big dreams and hopes again, instead of increasingly looking for shelter where they hide in the past, to protect themselves from the nightmares of the future”?
He himself posted the speech that was held at the closed session of the EU-Western Balkans summit, where his idea for the renewal of all of Europe is clarified, not excluding Russia.
“Obviously, this plan should be visible to the citizens of all European nations, including those of Russia. Russians should know that their country also has the right to join the path of European renewal, as soon as the Russian state accepts the need for a lasting peace with its neighbors, where everyone lives undisturbed within their internationally recognized borders. . Many people believe that the only reconstruction needed from this war is that of Ukraine. But our continent has more than one Ukraine, which sleeps like a mine under the bed of its territory. Let’s not forget that our greatest common enemy, which continues to grow before our eyes, is not Vladimir Putin, but Climate Change.”
The Albanian Prime Minister demands that concrete proposals be submitted at the next summit in Moldova.
“But what if a broad working group was created, which would bring together experts from all specialized institutions, under a leadership of sages, to produce a concrete report (which programs, projects, financing, agenda?..) as early as next spring and which one to present to the EU as well as to the next Summit of the new European Political Community, in Moldova”?
But the Prime Minister repeated the same position the day after, but now it was the leaders of the Balkans who went to Brussels. Together with the Prime Minister of Montenegro and the President of North Macedonia, Rama participated in the forum organized by the friends of Europe. But unlike Tirana, Rama did not only have thanks and praise for the EU. In Brussels, he returned to grievances about the union, asking for more financial support.
“We got 85 million euros for energy, but it’s not so great when you see that it was taken from our IPA funds. My colleague Mitsotakis was telling me yesterday that Greece has 85 billion plus domestic income coming from the European Union. When you have so much, of course you breathe.”
The Tirana summit took two important decisions for our region, that of reducing Roaming fees in the European space as well as the inclusion of 6 countries of the Western Balkans in the European alliance of universities.
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