Rama: “Himara debates are useless. Greece must not be scared by history”

“Buildings to be demolished are chosen selectively and with a notable sense of revenge, while laws are being violated by other buildings in Qeparo”, Dule said, accusing PM and the people close to him.

He reminded that Albania has the Constitutional obligation to protect its citizens wherever they are in the world, and this is the case also for Greece.

“We have an adventurer on top of our government who has changed politics and European values. He wants to tell us that Greece is our enemy, the country where 750.000 Albanian immigrants were welcomed”.

Rama answered to the declaration by saying that the debate for Himara takes to nowhere, since the government project only aims demolishing 18 objects, which are mainly car wash, kiosks, old depots or house ruins.

“Only six of them will be expropriated, a very small number compared to the expropriations made throughout the country”, Rama added.

According to him, this plan is supported by the Himara community and there is no room for problems.

“These people who gets between our feet doesn’t understand that you cannot engage an entire country for six buildings, its journalists and portals who work on antique populist nationalism and go against Albania, without ever mentioning the fact that Albania has given so much through its history to the great country of Greece”, Rama said.

The PM added that the reaction of Greek politicians about the declaration of Acropolis was senseless, since they were lucky that Gjergj Dushani was there to protect their monuments from the bombardments of the Venetian fleet. It was not me who said that, but every other serious historian”, Rama said.

According to him, this is something that should serve to good neighboring, not debates.

“Why should our neighbors get angry when I say that Albanian was spoken for a specific time in Athens, when I am not angry when they say that people in Himara speak Greek? This never makes Athens an Albanian city or Himara a Greek town. Time when people names were changed is over. Himara will now sing in Albanian”, Rama said.

The PM also answered to the argument of how the Albanian immigrants were welcomed in the ‘90s. “Greek citizens welcomed hundreds and thousands of Albanians, regardless of what politics their government was following against Albania in the ’90s. But also Albanians fed Greeks during the Italian-Greek war”, Rama said.

He rebuked claims that in Himara they are demolishing buildings of citizens declared as Greeks, and said this is about Albanians who have always lived on their lands, but were forced to emigrate to Greece.

“I am ready to answer to any invitation of our neighbors, to live behind the historic disputes and let’s make protection of our communities into a priority, same as the justice reform”, Rama said.

Top Channel