DREAM / The Prime Minister resigns and wakes up under the Parisian bridge!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Rama reveals his desire after leaving politics and shows how Trump will behave in his second term

2025-01-03 14:23:35Politikë SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Rama reveals his desire after leaving politics and shows how Trump will behave
Edi Rama

Prime Minister Edi Rama, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, spoke about the country's integration into the European Union and his candidacy for the mandate at the head of the government.

Mr. Prime Minister, 2024 was a year of many elections in the world. In your opinion, what "picture" can be taken of the results, starting from the European ones and those for the next president of the United States?

“The democratic world, in general, seems to have entered a phase of great turmoil and, unfortunately, the year that has just begun looks even more uncertain than the one that has just ended.”

For Albania, what year was 2024? And what is expected for 2025?

“It was a year marked by a sigh of relief, as we finally sat down at the negotiating table for membership in the European Union, after a long journey of reforms, full of difficult obstacles. The feeling is like that of sailors who, after a long voyage, finally see land.”

What are the main challenges that your country must face?

"Everything that will lead us towards the great historical step of entering the European Union and transform Albania into a country where the past cannot hold the future hostage."

You have been prime minister since September 2013: If you were to give yourself an assessment, what would it be?

"It is not for me to give myself an assessment. Next May, I will humbly welcome the vote of the citizens, because that is what matters."

In Europe, voter turnout has fallen. In Italy, for example, in some local elections turnout is below 50%. In your opinion, what is happening to societies?

“In Albania, I can say that we still maintain good levels of participation, considering only citizens resident in the country. It will be interesting to see how many will vote for the first time from abroad. As for Europe, perhaps there is an increasingly common idea that, ultimately, nothing changes and that voting does not matter. This is worrying, because it could mean that an old and very bad story risks repeating itself.”

Many people have noticed that you are a center-left prime minister, but you have excellent relations with Giorgia Meloni, a center-right prime minister. Personal relationships aside – you have had strong ties with former Italian prime ministers Matteo Renzi and Mario Draghi – are we living in an era where political boundaries are disappearing, at least on big issues like immigration?

"I wouldn't see it as an ideological issue. As I've often said, we have a relationship with Italy that is too special to be limited by ideological affiliations."

Are leaders of different countries facing greater challenges today compared to ten or twenty years ago? I'm thinking of immigration, global tensions, the pandemic, trade wars...

“The problem is perhaps that today's leaders, especially in Europe, have less opportunity to influence. This is because fundamental issues have slipped out of the control of national governments, while the European Union remains an unfinished creature, and that is the bigger issue.”

Did Donald Trump's victory in the United States elections last November surprise you?

"No, not at all. It was predictable."

How do you think Trump will behave in his second term?

"Like someone who has returned to the top of the world after being on the brink of the abyss, even touching death. He has never hidden the conviction that God had a special reason for keeping him alive while he was running for the White House."

Is Trump's victory a warning to Europe?

“Continuing the parallel with God, he could not have done anything more generous to try to awaken Europe.”

What do you mean?

"I hope this effort yields the desired results, otherwise there could be great pain ahead."

In what year, according to you, will Albania join the EU?

“I am not a prophet.”

But, nevertheless, what if I ask you for a year?

“I hope in 2030.”

You are also an artist, in addition to being a family man. How do you manage to lead a complex country and at the same time pursue your private life and your passions?

“My wife can give you the real answer. Because it is she and our children who know better than anyone, including me, that talking about private life, on my terms, is almost a euphemism. For them, it almost borders on insult.”

So tell me one thing you would like to see happen in 2025 and one thing you would like to bring from 2024?

"I would definitely like the war in Ukraine to end. By 2024 I would like to not change my age, but unfortunately I will be a year older."

Do you think you are more loved or appreciated outside your country or within it?

“'Dear' is a big word to claim, especially in a time when social media and digital platforms turn everything into mincemeat. But I will never complain.”

Will you run for a fourth consecutive term?

"Running for a fourth term and having support that promises well is already something special."

So, you will run again. But who will be behind Rama, when Rama decides to do something else?

"With God's permission and health, I hope for a life with a cell phone that receives few messages. That would already be another Rama. The rest will come by itself."


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×