Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting today with the national negotiation team for EU accession, which, according to him, “excelled in the initial phase of the process and received the highest praise from Brussels”.

In his speech, Rama expressed that this team deserves the most encouraging thanks to continue further, on a path where each step raises the level of democracy and democratic institutions in Albania.

“This is without any exaggeration a triumph within the Albanian administration of patriotism. You have excelled as servants of the state and have shown friends, partners, and representatives of much more developed countries what we can do and why we fully deserve respect,” said the Prime Minister.

Rama stated that there was much fear at the beginning of the negotiations, a very challenging test.

“You have shown in the examination rooms in Brussels that the Albanian administration has the capacity to fulfill this historic mission and to be at the height of this patriotic task,” said Rama.

“It is not easy to imagine 1800 Albanians coming together successfully for a job that is not one or two days but for a job that lasts for years. A job in silence, in front of thousands of documents that need to be read and prepared. Here, fear and concern that we might be embarrassed by this process, unprepared to face this process, are false,” added Rama.

The Prime Minister emphasized the pride he felt when receiving assessments in the international arena, where it was highlighted that “Albania is conducting admirable negotiations”.

“Not only have you demonstrated the ability in this process, but you have made a contribution that perhaps you cannot even imagine to the end for the flag of Albania in the eyes of many who did not have the same respect for Albania that it has today,” said Rama.

The Prime Minister highlighted that in meetings in Brussels, 777 issues were presented, and nearly 300,000 pages were written, which are the legal measures of the EU body, with a whole army of translators and lawyers.

“The time has come for us to overcome this need and have at our disposal the model of artificial intelligence that will help all your teams have the basic material in Albanian available much faster and have the opportunity to work much faster,” he added.

Rama emphasized that “we have managed to open a new road that has materialized as a project and will begin to be implemented with the decision of the European Council for the new growth plan”.

“And it is 1 billion euros plus that will come in the coming years for Albania beyond the programmed support with IPA programs and beyond our budget, which will help us, as well as in addition to these, there are a series of new openings for integration into the common market, which previously only happened for countries that were EU members, and I say this because in the meantime, your job is not just presenting and negotiating in Brussels, but it is also the daily implementation of things that we present or that we need to prepare to present,” he emphasized.

The Prime Minister declared that Albania currently possesses over 50% of the capacity to be considered ready for membership in the European Union, emphasizing that “over 50% is a lot, considering that this is only the beginning of the process”.

“You have proven with this process that it is to a certain extent, not entirely, in our hands to expedite the process. It is very important for this to be our fundamental motive in the phase we are entering. To expedite the process. We have started this process from a much lower point compared to others. You have heard that the front-runners for the region were Serbia and Montenegro,” said Rama.

Today, he continued, “we are part of the front-runners”.

“We have gained a lot from the unjustly lost time because it unjustly hindered us, but we continued to prepare. This is one of the reasons why we were so successful in this process and why we have the opportunity to expedite the process even more,” added Rama.

The Prime Minister expressed that we must be ready for the EU long before the EU is ready for us.

“We must do this not for the EU and to outpace others in the region but to bring the EU here as soon as possible, to ensure that European standards, European legal measures are installed in every sector here,” he added.

The Prime Minister also touched on the issue of Fredi Beleri and a veto from Greece, impeding Albania in opening the first negotiating chapters, stating that “for no issue of justice do we make any compromises with anyone”.

“You know that we have a problem that has nothing to do with your work and the negotiation process but is related to politics and political relations. I believe you should have no concerns, and I believe very much that we will not waste any time because we will find a language even for this, always with the understanding that for no issue of justice, and for no reason, do we make any compromises with anyone,” stated Rama.

On the other hand, Rama expressed the conviction that “with our neighbors, we will together manage to prioritize the major reasons for this issue, which we do not underestimate for our neighbors and for which we are certainly available for anything that does not affect the process of consolidating our new justice system”.

“There is no compromise possible here, not because we don’t want it, but because the justice we want is much more adamant than we are. Your work and our joint work will continue. You have now learned the way to Brussels, and you know how to go and what needs to be done there,” Rama expressed.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State and Chief Negotiator for Albania in the accession negotiations to the European Union, Majlinda Dhuka, declared that the voice of the Albanians was heard loud and clear in Brussels.

In her speech, Dhuka thanked the institutions participating in these negotiations.

“No one held our energy back with the start of the process. Sympathy began to grow, appreciation for the preparation, hugs, and photos at the end of bilateral meetings, we all remember, as well as some drinks to celebrate in the atmosphere of Brussels. Certainly, the voice of the Albanians was heard loud and clear, professional, but also with emotional involvement in Brussels,” said Dhuka.

She emphasized that “we have only just started the good work”.

“Next year, Albania will go forward with all the developments and preparations as we have discussed, and we will continue to discuss,” Dhuka emphasized.

The Minister expressed that “our national negotiation team has 36 squads in 6 formations, or as we call them in the language of negotiations, group chapters”.

She thanked the negotiators of the first group. “You opened the entire process for us, but at the same time, you also prepared the conditions for opening negotiations for the first group chapter in record time, and Albania submitted them on the 13 in Brussels, on the margins of the EU-Western Balkans Summit”.