Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted on Wednesday on social media following the vote on the resolution concerning Albania in the European Parliament.

In his post, Rama commented on the debate surrounding the Vjosa-Narta protected area and the development project in Zvërnec, stressing that the amendment proposed in the resolution had been rejected by a majority of Members of the European Parliament.

Rama’s full statement:

“Even the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT has separated the ‘chaff’ of the digital disinformation storm from the ‘sugar’ of the Vjosa-Narta protected area, which has absolutely nothing to do with the development project that certain MEPs unsuccessfully tried to insert blindly as an amendment to the Resolution on Albania, only to see it rejected by an overwhelming majority vote.

Now, either Europe has completely lost its mind and become corrupt, while through its Parliament it highly praises Albania and encourages our swift accession to the EU, or there is something wrong with those who started the protests of recent weeks under the banner of protecting flamingos and are now turning them into a political struggle in the name of flamingos.

In any case, the flamingos will be protected, Vjosa-Narta will be protected, Zvërnec will be developed on the basis of an Environmental Impact Assessment conducted in accordance with European Union standards, and we will continue climbing toward the summit where the home of a united Europe stands.”

In his reaction, Rama assured that the Vjosa-Narta area and flamingo habitats would be protected, while the development of Zvërnec would proceed on the basis of an Environmental Impact Assessment carried out according to European Union standards. He also emphasized that Albania would continue its path toward membership in the European Union.