The Minister of Economy and Innovation Delina Ibrahimaj stated on Wednesday that the government aims to facilitate the employment of approximately 10,000 young people by 2027 through the Youth Guarantee Program, which includes a total fund of nearly 60 million euros.

During an interview with Euronews Albania - in which she was asked about the protests that have taken place in the country over the last few days - Ibrahimaj explained that the program, developed in cooperation with the European Union, aims to provide young people up to the age of 29 with employment opportunities and vocational training. According to the minister, the program was piloted in 2026 and is expected to be implemented nationwide in 2027.

“We need to engage in dialogue with them to develop programs specifically designed for young men and women. We are currently implementing a major initiative called the Youth Guarantee Program - developed in collaboration with the European Union - which has a total budget of nearly 60 million euros. It is dedicated specifically to employment, providing job opportunities or vocational training for young people up to the age of 29. Similar programs have already proven successful in many other European countries, including those that were once candidate countries before joining the European Union.

The program was piloted in 2026 and will be rolled out nationwide in 2027. We have been planning these initiatives for some time, working alongside European Union experts, and they are now included in the 2027 budget. We aim to facilitate employment for nearly 10,000 young people... in the year 2027. These are not low figures, and the labor market is highly dynamic - it is a market that demands qualified human resources. Students are precisely the target group most sought after by the labor market, and naturally, we are here to fulfill our duty,” she said.

Ibrahimaj stated, “We will sit down with the students to discuss, in concrete terms, all the programs we have in place. I am convinced that there is, to some extent, a degree of misinformation regarding the programs we are currently implementing; undoubtedly, through a dialogue with the students, we will be able to address the issues they raise.”

She noted that some of the demands presented thus far are general in nature - unlike those seen during the protests of 2018.