PM Rama Blasts EU for ‘Holding Itself Hostage in Western Balkans’
Prime Minister Edi Rama has harshly criticized the European Union once again this Thursday regarding the holding of the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on integration, but also emphasized that Albania must become a fully functional member of the bloc.
In an interview with Ingrid Steiner-Gashi, journalist of the Austrian daily "Kurier", Prime Minister Rama expressed disappointment with the hopes of EU accession, with the rules that are constantly changing and a Europe in chaos.
“Now I have another idea of ​​the rules of the game in the EU and we have to accept them. One should not lose patience and passion. It is more about the functioning of Albania as an EU country than the fact of Albania as a member of the European Union.
It is always about domestic policy in one or the other EU member state. What is valid today does not have to be implemented tomorrow. Like the weather forecast, we have meanwhile developed a technique that helps us decipher the EU election calendar. Depending on a country's profile, a certain slowdown in the post-election EU enlargement process can be expected.
I do not feel hostage to any issue. The EU is hostage here. EU countries do not act explicitly on us, they act in this way on themselves.
Albania will be the last country in Europe to give up the European ideal, if others have done so long ago. We made that choice and for the first time in our history we had a free choice. We want to be members of the European Union. First, for our people, and we want to be part of this familyâ€, answered PM Rama to some of the questions asked by Gashi.