Rama from Germany: “Integration, before it is too late”

Rama said that Albania wants the EU, despite the increased skepticism in Europe, because the integration of Albania and Balkan is seen as a modernizing instrument and peace-keeping force in the region.

“We are not running towards accession right now, but our desire to not lose the European perspective goes stronger, as the only horizon in the eyes of our people. It will be very late after anti-European forces make roots in the region. You may ask how is it possible that we want to much to be part of the EU when everybody else wants to get out. I think the issue is more complicated that then. For us, Europe is something very important about the future, peace and security. It means building a future on the impossible of the past”, Rama said.

The Prime Minister said you cannot be part of the EU if you are not able to talk to your neighbors and cooperate with them. The EU has the power to preserve peace and prevent conflicts, Rama said.

“The dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia continues because Serbia is negotiating while Kosovo is the only country in the entire continent where people are banned to move free from the visa regime. People ask how it was possible to travel to Germany visa-free with Yugoslav passports, when they were under dictatorship, but now that they are independent, they cannot cross their own border?”, Rama said.

The Prime Minister spoke about the reforms undertaken by Albania. Rama said his people know they cannot be proud members of the EU without a working judiciary system.

“Fight against corruption is about the modernization of our country, the building of institutions and mechanisms that make the state immune from the subjectivity of people. The only part that has not succeeded is the judiciary and its impunity. We are still very week as regards this part”, he said.

Rama said that based on the European barometer, Police was the most credible institution in the eyes of the public.

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