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Albanian PM says Western Balkans should ‘never give up on EU dream’

Albania’s prime minister has called on leaders of the Western Balkans to reject objections from outside powers and keep faith in their dream of EU membership.

Edi Rama said Albania would “never give up on Europe and the EU, no matter the shape of the EU in the future” while targeting the bloc’s politicians for being too swayed by nationalist pressures .

Speaking to the Financial Times, he admitted that it was annoying to have to wait. But as Russia, China and Turkey all flirt with the region, Rama considers such suitors, who he did not name, unsuitable. “Others can bring money, investments, maybe even caviar, but they won’t be able to bring you what you need to build a working free country,” he said.

The comments come as Bosnia in the north faces its most serious political crisis since the end of civil war 25 years ago, triggered by a surge in the leader’s separatist talks. hardline of the Bosnian Serb entity.

Rama said he was worried about rising nationalism in Bosnia but that nationalism in the EU is now a bigger obstacle to those in the region’s ambitions to join the 27-member bloc.

The EU has yet to “recover” from the refugee crisis in 2015, he said, when more than 1 million people applied for asylum in Europe, mostly fleeing the Syrian war. Since then, the EU has been “driven by fear, not by aspiration”, and governments that are “non-radical in themselves” have been “influenced by extremism”.

When Albania began its accession process almost two decades ago, the key was to break away from Balkan nationalism, but “today our problem is not the Balkan countries, but the EU states.” . What stops us?[joining the EU]. . . is the influence of EU states on the political life of important EU states”.

Of the “six western Balkans”, Albania joins Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia as candidates to join the EU, while Kosovo and Bosnia are potential candidates. The region has major problems with corruption and its commitment to the rule of law, but as Rama implied, the political calculations of EU members also played a part in the 18-year delay since the bloc’s inception. commit to allowing them to join once they’re done. criteria.

“The Albanians have their own frustrations with Brussels, but this does not change the belief that we have to be there,” he said. “We have told all our previous love stories and marriages,” he added in a tacit reference to the relationship Albania had first with Russia and then China during the communist era. . “We are looking for a new marriage, not for an old marriage. But of course, this kind of marriage is difficult.”

Rama, in his third term, promoted the idea of ​​a single regional market that all six countries agreed to in November 2020. In an effort to speed progress, Albania, along with Serbia and North Macedonia, has signed up to implement certain provisions. “If we did this in the Balkans, it would be the best deterrent against the madness and if we didn’t do it, no one would do it for us.”

He reluctantly let the other three people. “The Bosnians, because they cannot decide anything, are clearly Montenegrin because they are still under the illusion that they can enter the EU next year, and every year becomes the next year. . . Kosovo because of the problem with Serbia, which I think could be better resolved when people sit down and talk.”

As for Albania, which has gone through a painful transition for the past 30 years to rebuild its economy after the end of strict communist rule, he said “it can be a place where people can enjoy life. There is never 100% discipline, where everything will work like a Swiss watch or a German watch, but never boring. ”

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