The wife of Prime Minister Edi Rama, Linda Rama, during her speech at the dinner for guests of the International Forum on Security and Global Policies, stated that globalization has brought people closer together and created new opportunities for cooperation. She spoke about her first experience leaving Albania during the communist period.

“I was 28 years old when I crossed the border and left my small country. It was the first time I held an American dollar bill and made my first exchange with that currency.

At that moment, the free world was pursuing its great dream — globalization, without walls and without borders. While we were escaping from communism, you were dreaming of the global village. None of us knew what awaited us.

For someone who has lived in a country that has produced more history than it could absorb, today I know — we all know — more, even though I would never go back. We know the advantages of globalization, which has connected people in unimaginable ways. Music, film, and art now travel freely, allowing us to know one another better,” she said.

Linda Rama added that communication today is faster than ever. According to her, Albania is rediscovering its place in global history. Quoting Tony Blair, she emphasized that globalization is a reality, giving the example of how school bags have evolved — from being filled with notebooks to now including iPads.

“We still haven’t learned how to live and behave globally in these new circumstances. We couldn’t have known then, and we still don’t know enough now. We try to manage an extremely complex and dynamic world with the practices, beliefs, and echoes of the past, instead of understanding and adapting to it.

Are we still living in a globalized world? Yes, we are — because, as Tony Blair says, globalization is a reality. Do you remember how, in our generation, we used to carry our schoolbags by hand?

Today, no child carries it by hand; they all wear it on their backs. In fact, over the years, the bags became larger and heavier, to the point that no child could carry them otherwise. They go to school every day bent under this weight, because inside that bag there’s not only the notebook but also the iPad. This is the backpack of globalization — on the shoulders of my 11-year-old son, Zaho — full of learning opportunities, but at times chaotic,” she said.