Prime Minister Edi Rama has spoken about the importance of the membership of the countries of the Western Balkans in the European Union, as well as the Russian influence in the region. He said that he was initially traumatized by the process of opening talks. 

Rama made the comments from Berlin, where he was invited to one of the conversations at the new international forum "Berlin Global Dialogue". 

The Prime Minister declared that Albania's 'love' for the EU is unconditional, despite the fact that at the beginning "it was very difficult to find a kind of balance of mind with the Union that said 'we love you but we don't want to talk', just like saying 'I want to get married, but I don't want to talk', now we are talking and this is important." 

The head of the Albanian government emphasized that he is certain that one day, Albania will be part of the European Union, but he does not know when. 

"Albania is completely oriented towards the Euro-Atlantic community, but from other countries we have more Russian influence and this is mitigated by integrating the Western Balkans more into the EU. We are too small to make a difference, but we are a net worth when it comes to peace and security. 

Russian aggression has opened everyone's eyes and made everyone aware of the importance of this process and the importance of the Western Balkans for the EU, but on the other hand, the EU has its own problems that we know quite well, a very difficult process decision-making, a very large influence of local policies on the member states that sometimes determines the position of the Union because for every step taken, consensus is needed. 

Sometimes, as a friend of mine puts it, it seems that by being patient because of our traumatic history and seeing EU as a psychologist, we see that the psychologist is also traumatized and this is difficult because we sometimes find ourselves helping the psychologist. I don't know about dates or deadlines because I'm not sure that the EU has the capacity to set a deadline and then respect it, because everyone can agree when the deadline is set, but when it comes to respecting this deadline, one may disagree so the trauma returns. We are totally at peace with ourselves, that we have to do our homework because at the end of the day I believe that the EU is the most extraordinary source of knowledge in state building.

To have the opportunity to use this knowledge, to get the best of it to build a state, a functional democracy, a modern state for our children, this is the objective. Then, are we officially members today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, it does not depend only on us, we know that, but I also have to confess that I have sometimes felt traumatized by the endless process of opening membership talks because it was very difficult to find some kind of balance of mind in front of a European Union that said 'We love you but we don't want to talk'. Same as 'We want to get married but we don't want to talk'. But how can you get married when you don't talk? Now we are talking and that is more important. Will we get married one day? I'm sure! Are we getting married tomorrow? I am not sure, but the important thing is that our love for Europe and the European Union is unconditional. So we can have a kind of couple effect without being married", said Rama from the discussion table in Berlin.