"Albania is hostage to a deadlock." This is what Prime Minister Edi Rama said about the EU integration process, speaking at the 18th Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative.
The head of government said that our country is in a strange situation, which comes as a result of a blockade by the two countries Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, due to their disputes.
"Albania is in a strange situation, hostage to a deadlock between our neighbor and friendly country Bulgaria. It is one of those situations that only the EU can create, there is no measured explanation of how it can be handled. How can you remain hostage to a dispute. This is how we need to move forward. Let us not lose patience and passion for Europe.
It is our duty to do as much as possible, to get there for our children. For some who are bigger, Europe is an ATM, for us it is not. For us it remains a place of peace and security. Europe for us is our first choice of free will in history. We have been to different empires, under different flags, but it was not our choice. We were forced to live in dictatorship.
This is why stubbornly why we do not think at all to give up. We are not thinking about plan B. Meanwhile, we need to think about our region, as complementary work. We have to build it for ourselves. We should all see it the same way we do. "Slovenians and Croats are many times ahead of us, but I strongly believe that the Balkans is and will be a good country", declared Rama.