In an interview for the German news agency NTV, PM Edi Rama declared that the fact that the EU-Western Balkans Summit wasn’t able to procure a date for the first IGC (Intergovernmental Conference) for the region, isn’t particularly disappointing. The reason for this, according to Rama is that Europe is not in the best shape it’s ever been.
“I’m not disappointed because, in reality, I wasn’t expecting anything else. In the past, I would have been disappointed but we’ve learned that Europe isn’t in the best shape it’s ever been and we understand that, which is why we are just moving forward and working on our own affairs. As you know, we absolutely have to create an Albania that holds within it the same European values and standards. And this isn’t because Berlin, Paris or Brussels are forcing us to but because this is what we want for our children,” – said Rama for the German news station.
During the interview, PM Rama also revealed that the Albanian government has been offered compensation in exchange for building a refugee camp but the offer was turned down for reasons he explains below.
“Refugee camps are inhuman. I believe that they are one of the reasons why communities surrounding them are troubled when they see refugees in their vicinity gather up in these camps. In cases when there are large groups of people coming in, then it might be necessary to build these camps but in our case, we decided not to. Even though we were offered funding to build these refugee camps, we refused. In this case, we did the same thing we did with our own people when the country was struck by the horrible earthquake on November 26, 2019,” – said Rama.
The Albanian prime minister also touched on the reasons why he decided to have a predominantly female cabinet of ministers.
Rama said that no particular strategy has been followed here, in terms of building a team that is made up of more women, but that the only goal was to put together an outstanding cabinet.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
- Rama to Spanish RTVE: Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo, the last chapter of a painful story
- PM Edi Rama: Energy price will not increase for families and small enterprises
- Malaj on Rama’s crisis speech: First time I hear a prime minister engage in fearmongering
