TIRANA (ALBANIA) (ITALPRESS) – From Albania’s bid to join the European Union to the migration agreement with Italy, and the domestic controversy over a tourism project challenged by the “Flamingo Revolution” movement, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the main political dossiers involving Tirana and its relationship with Europe in an exclusive interview with Anna La Rosa for the Italpress news agency.
On Albania’s European path, Rama described the country’s trajectory as irreversible. “As Churchill used to say, one should never waste a good crisis. I believe there are things to learn, things to reflect on, but in the meantime no one can stop Albania’s process towards the European Union,” he said.
The Albanian premier also returned to the agreement between Italy and Albania on migrants, which in recent months has been at the centre of heated political debate. “There was so much noise over something that, in the end, was nothing more than an effort made in good faith, an attempt to find a direction and solutions. The fact that today this has been accepted is not a victory, but another example of the time wasted in battles that are often not even real battles, but pointless confrontations in the public arena,” Rama said. “The time spent before reaching a common position is, instead, the real problem we need to address,” he added.
Rama also dwelt at length on the protests by the “Flamingo Revolution” against a resort project in southern Albania. He rejected the allegations and said they were damaging the country’s image. “For years I have been accused of all kinds of things. I do not know whether there is still anything left that has not been attributed to me,” he said, adding that this “causes me deep pain. Because at that point it is no longer just about me, but about Albania.”
According to the Albanian prime minister, an unfounded narrative has been built around the issue. “How can one respond? We have reached a point where a fundamental principle seems to have been overturned: it should be those making accusations who provide evidence, not the accused who must constantly prove their innocence. This so-called Flamingo Revolution initially seemed almost like the plot of a film. Today it seems to me that the protest has taken other directions and shifted onto other issues. If they accuse me of having handed over these lands or of having damaged a beautiful stretch of Albania’s coastline, then they should bring the evidence. So far, however, no evidence has been presented. No one, up to now, has proven anything. There is no evidence because the process is still ongoing,” he said, adding that “we have not yet signed any agreement, because the negotiations have not been concluded.”
As for the other development, on privately owned land, “the state and the government have nothing to do with it: there is still no building permit and a procedure is under way. We have truly reached a paradoxical situation.”
Rama said he nevertheless understood the reasons of those who had taken to the streets, but challenged the way the affair had been taken onto the international stage. “Having said that, I fully understand those who went out to protest,” Rama added. “I have said it publicly: if I had been among them and had listened to everything that was being said, I would probably have felt the same resentment and the same indignation. But if I had then listened to the other side — in this case the government — saying: ‘Come, I will show you that there is none of what you have been told, there is no evidence,’ I would have felt reassured and gone home. Unfortunately, today the issue has gone beyond that and people are no longer even talking about the flamingos. The flamingos have become a useful symbol for those who want to take this affair onto the international stage. If locally it is a matter involving different groups in society, including the opposition, internationally it becomes a battle against Donald Trump,” he concluded.
– Photo Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
