President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, held a press conference together with the head of the government Edi Rama, in the framework of the opening of a new campus in Tirana of the prestigious European College of Bruges.
In her speech, she underlined that this campus will build a strong bridge towards the EU. She further underlined that for the opening of this campus in Albania, the Commission has allocated funds, while in the following years it will provide funding again.
“I remember the idea of having a campus of the College of Europe here in Tirana. I immediately understood your vision and what better way than this to prepare the future of Albania to educate and train the next generation. So we started the work. And here we are, creating the third campus of the College of Europe. Today we will focus on those who will give life to this college, the students themselves.
Students in Albania can apply to study here. This is fantastic. This campus will build a strong bridge to the EU. The commission has allocated funds for the establishment of the campus and many more funds will follow. We will have a financial package with 15 scholarships for the students of the Western Balkans,” she said.
Meanwhile Prime Minister, Edi Rama, in his speech, while thanking Von Der Leyen for opening this campus, said that no one can accompany a country to come out of its past and provide a democratic state for its citizens as the EU does.
While talking about the college, he underlined that many young Albanians will be part of it, underlining the fact that the competition will be very high.
“Der Leyen accompanied us in very dark moments, when the earthquake hit Albania, and I can say without any doubt that without her our journey to rebuild and build better from scratch would have been impossible. I want to underline how important is this initiative that comes to life in such a short time. I firmly believe that Europe for us is about knowledge, learning how to solve all the problems we inherited from the past, how to transform what is most important for a country like Albania. I always think how blessed we are to live in this country and how blessed we are to be surrounded by the EU.
No one can accompany a country to emerge from its past and provide a democratic state for its citizens as the EU does. I know it’s not easy at all, there is no teacher who breaks your nerves like EU does. There is no other way, that’s why I believe that this college is more than a University that comes here from abroad and becomes part of our system to provide more opportunities for students. This is a deeper lesson for the EU itself and for its journey. I believe that many more than 31 young Albanians want to be part of this college. The competition will become more challenging. The thank you that I tell Ursula it is heartfelt and quite meaningful. She took it upon herself and did it,” Rama said.
