Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the government has a compensation plan ready for the damage caused by the floods that affected the country in recent days.

Speaking on his podcast ‘Flasim’, Rama stated that the level of damage from the recent floods is many times lower than that recorded a decade ago, thanks to major investments in infrastructure.

“‘You will never be alone’ is my motto and ours whenever we face disasters. To those affected by this disaster, I want to say that we stand by them with regard to housing and livestock, and for addressing every form of damage they are facing. The plan with compensation scenarios is already ready, and distribution is expected to begin after the results of on-site verifications,” Rama said.

The prime minister added that the human factor significantly influenced the scale of the situation following heavy rainfall, warning of penalties for anyone who dumps waste into canals and drainage systems.

“The human factor has its weight. I honestly cannot understand the extreme recklessness toward nature that we, as a people, display constantly. The staggering volumes of plastic carried by rivers in such cases are frightening, disgusting, and criminal. We will move forward with new measures against this darkness in our collective mindset, increasing efforts in awareness, information, and also punishment,” Rama said.

Prime Minister Rama also addressed the issue of pensions, noting that pensioners have benefited from an increase at the start of this year. He said this achievement is a personal relief for him and the result of years of work and reforms to reach financial stability.

“As we pledged during the campaign that secured 83 mandates, and as we raised 83 green cards in Parliament in favor of the gradual increase of pensions during this historic mandate, we have now begun the shift. According to the respective categories, pensioners have received an increase since this January, which will double every January. Next January they will receive double this January’s increase, the following January triple, then quadruple, and by Albania 2030 this progression will stop at five times the initial January increase. This shift is a great relief for me. It took years of reforms, strong economic growth, and a fundamental improvement in revenue collection and administration to reach the point where a different Albania from that of ten years ago could become a country that increases pensions without undermining the foundations of our shared financial stability,” he said.

During the “Flasim” podcast, Rama also commented on the summit of the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine. He said that Albania still lacks fully impartial and high-quality justice, despite having an independent judiciary.

“This week began with my participation in the Summit of the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine, convened by President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, where I had the honor of being among the invited leaders representing Albania. Overall, the meeting served to assess efforts to align positions, coordinate forces, and share responsibilities among the United States, the Coalition of the Willing, and Ukraine, within the framework of security guarantees needed to pave the way toward compromise and peace after a war that has taken far too many human lives.

During my stay in Paris, I also met with France’s Minister of Justice, with whom we discussed the participation of French partners in the reflection group we have launched on Albania’s criminal policy challenges, as well as the consolidation of the new draft Criminal Code, in full harmony with European standards and best practices.

As I have said, we need a major, serious, and forward-looking reflection on criminal policy in Albania, because we must address acute problems while at the same time protecting independence, promoting impartiality, and improving the quality of justice in this country. We finally have an independent judiciary, thanks to the leadership of the Socialist Party of Albania and bipartisan support from the Albanian people, but we still do not have either impartial justice or high-quality justice. It is not easy, but I did not commit myself to politics to do easy things or to take difficult matters lightly. On the contrary,” Prime Minister Rama said.