“Albania 2030 in the EU – The Path of Reforms,” High-Level Meeting with Accredited Ambassadors in Albania

Today, a high-level meeting took place with the participation of accredited ambassadors in Albania, focusing on deepening reforms in good governance, the rule of law, and anti-corruption, under the theme "Albania 2030 in the EU - The Path of Reforms."

The meeting, attended by Prime Minister Edi Rama, was held as part of the inclusive and transparent process undertaken by the Parliament of Albania in its commitment to strengthening institutions and preparing the country for EU membership.

The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the extraordinary work carried out by institutions, particularly negotiators and experts involved in the negotiation process and reforms. It also aimed to encourage and provide support for a renewed pace in pursuing the major objective: "Albania 2030 in the EU."

Prime Minister Rama:

Good evening, everyone! Fatmir, the chairman of the Special Parliamentary Commission, who is also the reason for this high-level meeting, with the presence of all the distinguished members of the city, said that this is a process that started a year ago, and I want to reaffirm this correct statement regarding the start of the process, to say that the work done and the analytical document of about 700 pages are part of the second half of this year. Meanwhile, the first half of the year was consumed with skepticism, doubts, and opposition, undoubtedly followed by accusations, but I don't want to include those here. Specifically, today we are here to discuss because an important first phase has been concluded, which is fundamental for this process, and the opposition, doubts, and hesitations were truly very worrying for me personally. They were worrying because we don't have the luxuary of wasting time on things that are as clear to us as the daylight, but on the other hand, they were also a very tough test of the fact that the vast majority of the sincere supporters of Albania's European path, and here I include everyone from the well-wishers to the critics, do not have any idea what this phase of the negotiations for EU membership actually entails.

Undoubtedly, without the support of our strategic allies, this reform would have had a completely different path and would have been impossible, but this must be very clear to everyone, because I repeat, we do not have time to lose or wait for those who have another agenda, those who have a different plan, and those who are not interested in EU membership, even for the simple reason that they want to do it themselves.

The Government of the Republic of Albania cannot tell them what to do, nor can it ask them to account for why they are not doing it. However, at the negotiation table, the European Union does not negotiate with the government. The European Union negotiates with Albania. The government has its role, the judiciary has its role, and all other institutions, authorities, agencies, and so on have their roles. And the question is very simple: if we want the 855 measures related to the rule of law, where 59% of the tasks lie with the judiciary and justice institutions, to be successfully implemented by the Republic of Albania, there can be no discussion about this, but we must all agree that we need to coordinate and harmonize the activities of the Albanian state, so that our progress towards the conclusion of the negotiations is uniform. It does not matter if society advances and takes ownership of its part, or if one part advances and takes ownership, while another part fails to do so in the right way and at the right time. And the question that arises here is very simple: which institution in this Republic can bring everyone together around this mission and ensure that the citizens of the Republic of Albania, to whom all these institutions serve, are guaranteed that no institution betrays them in their expectation of seeing Albania as a member of the EU? There is only one institution that can do this, and there is no other, and this institution is the Assembly of Albania, which, by its very constitutional nature, is the only institution with the right and duty to demand accountability, make resolutions, raise issues, issue claims, and ask for responsibility.

Therefore, this is the institution that can guarantee that the process is harmonized, the process is transparent, and the process includes the element of accountability from all institutions. Albania is a republic that has three independent powers: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, but all three of these powers have the duty to interact with each other, and in this process, they must be guided by the sense of the national mission, of harmonizing all forces to achieve results.

Regarding these measures, the justice reform, whose inviolability today is not guaranteed by the U.S. Embassy, nor by the EU Embassy, nor by any other embassy in the Republic of Albania, is guaranteed by the Socialist Party of Albania, which is the ruling majority. Within these 855 measures, 41 measures must be completed, which means that even here, it's not because we say so, but because the obligation we have if we want to become an EU member says so, intervention will be required. Naturally, when saying that the inviolability of the justice reform is currently guaranteed by the party that governs the country and holds the majority, it would be better if this were guaranteed by the entirety of the political forces in the Albanian Parliament, but in reality, they do not share the same view on the inviolability of the justice system. I must also add that any modification to the justice reform for the sake of adaptation and improvement regarding the membership duties must go through the EU and definitely through the U.S.

This is how it worked when the justice reform was made, and this is how it will continue to work in the future because we do not have it, and it is pointless to try to create a unified political space on this issue.

I fully understand what Silvio means when he talks about "all forces." That is how it should be, but today we are faced with the impossibility of having a unified stance on the justice reform and the new justice institutions. It is impossible because there are two completely opposing approaches.

However, on the other hand, we are fortunate-both Albania and all Western Balkan countries-unlike those countries that entered the dream of democracy under similar economic and political conditions and failed to achieve it. On the contrary, they ended up worse than when they began, like Afghanistan, for example.

I truly believe that the work of this commission is fundamental, and not only should this commission be supported with all its strength and move its work forward, but we must also transform this commission into a permanent mechanism of the Albanian Parliament to oversee the entire process until EU membership is achieved. Through this mechanism, we must ensure that all institutions involved, as I mentioned earlier, perform at the level of the ambition we have declared, which is "Albania as an EU member by 2030," otherwise, we will not achieve it. It is impossible. The volume of tasks that need to be done is extraordinary, and the EU doesn't forgive or grant exceptions. When it comes to the standards and criteria a state must meet, there are no geopolitical considerations, no wars, and no crises of any kind that they would consider.

This is why, as Silvio generously quoted, this process is a blessing, to build Europe here. This is why it's a fortune that we are in the center of Europe and not in Afghanistan, because we have, as the Special Committee, a group of experts who bring their knowledge in each field, contributing to the collective document the full value of the knowledge our country possesses today-an invaluable source of knowledge on how to build the rule of law, which no one else in the European Union has. This gives us the opportunity not only to dream of the rule of law but also to build it.

We might have wanted to carry out the justice reform, and Afghanistan may have wanted to do it as well, but it's not enough to just want to do it; you must know how to do it. And knowledge-something a country like ours, with a miserable tradition, especially in relation to justice-has been lacking since 1912, when the flag was raised and the state was proclaimed. Since then, no charge has been filed against a powerful person by an independent prosecutor or judge. We can achieve this thanks to the European Union, which is the bank of knowledge on how to build the institutional life of a country.

Having said all this, I want to address another point. The European Union says that, Albania is the first in the region for public procurement in terms of efficiency, transparency, and integrity. To reach this conclusion, the European Union, which is not a German newspaper but an institution with a microscope, uses a tool that has never been contested until now. It is the same instrument that has been used before, and when we were in government, it didn't say what it says today-it said much less satisfying things.

Albania ranks first, and public procurement is part of the fundamentals chapter, where, until the moment of accession, the European Union has not set intermediate milestones for us. This means that our public procurement system is now considered a European system. As surprising as it may seem to those who start their day with corruption, continue with corruption, and end their day with corruption-where one in three words is corruption and who equate Albania with corruption without a second thought-this is a fact. And I'm not just talking about those who raise accusations in the streets; I'm also referring to those who genuinely wish us well. Is this fair? How can these two perspectives coexist?

I believe this fact, along with another fact regarding money laundering and the informal economy-where everything is labeled as black money-illustrates that the Basel Index, which is neither a German newspaper nor an Italian scandal show, states that Albania has made progress in the fight against money laundering. Interestingly, there are 7 or 8 EU countries ranked lower than Albania in this regard-and they acknowledge this. Whether it's public procurement or the money laundering issue, as Prime Minister, we in the government are fully aware of the basis for these statements. We base our arguments on facts, not perceptions. However, perceptions are just as crucial as facts in the end, and for this reason, we must combat these perceptions, though we cannot ignore the facts.

After saying all of this, I want to add the following. We took the first step in this process because we are fully aware that the shortcomings, gaps, and challenges Albania faces today under our government are greater than the issues that our critics mistakenly point out as problems. However, we measure the scale of our issues and weaknesses by the standards set by the European Union, and we see that the gap we need to close is significant.

I mentioned public procurement, but we are not standing still. On the contrary, we are actively working to take public procurement to the next level using Artificial Intelligence, ensuring the integrity of the procurement process is so strong that even EU countries will want to adopt and implement our model because technology gives us that possibility.

I also reviewed the latest Eurobarometer survey on the perception of corruption in EU countries, and it showed that a significant number of people in the EU believe their governments and countries are much more corrupt than the Albanian public perceives our government and country.

Technology gives us the opportunity to make breakthroughs that challenge these perceptions, because, naturally, perceptions are shaped by many factors, but they don't always reflect the facts. And the facts are clear. In addition, we are preparing-Adea, with the support of everyone-a new transparent platform for Albania, which will be a pioneering step in exposing every action, every transaction, and every cent spent or procured in the Republic of Albania, at least in our executive capacity. We are aware that there is much work to be done.

And finally, I want to mention two more things. The Bertelsmann Institute is not the "Qemal Stafa" academy. It is a German institute, one of the eight most reputable sources used even by the Transparency International index. I'm not quoting the entire report because, honestly, when I quote it myself, I fear it might seem exaggerated, but I'll share just this: from the latest report on good governance, anti-corruption, and the rule of law: "One of the 8 countries, among 137 countries tracked by the Institute, that has made substantial progress over the past decade is the Republic of Albania."

All of this proves that we can achieve this. We have every possibility to do so. But to succeed, we must unite all forces that can be united. We cannot unite irreconcilable forces. If irreconcilable forces want to join us, we welcome them with open arms. Even the Commission, which was voted by the Parliament as an inclusive commission, has empty spaces for those who may come and sit down at any time and be fully welcomed. However, there is no way that, at least as long as I lead this government and as long as the Socialist Party leads this country, those who say "I won't sit down" will prevent us from continuing to move forward.

We will not wait for anyone because we simply cannot.

In the worst-case scenario, we will wait for our partners when they are not convinced that we are hiding anything.

We will do this because we have friends in our home, and you know that a friend is never turned away. But we will not wait for another force. I know this is a problem, I know it's a shortcoming, and I agree with what was mentioned here, and what is often mentioned: "The political climate, cooperation among political forces" is very valid. But between waiting for cooperation, which we know will not happen until it happens, and wasting time, while we need to make the most of every minute, and always being ready for any cooperation, we have made our choice, and this is our choice: to continue deepening all the reforms, to deepen and make irreversible the separation of powers, to deepen and make irreversible the fight against corruption and organized crime, which is a battle of the whole state, not just one, two, or three institutions, to guarantee the independence and irreversibility of the judiciary's independence, and to bring Albania into the European Union. Then, with brighter minds, younger and wiser than I am-because I'm not as young anymore but can't seem to become as wise as I should-I am sure they will do the best, and Albania will become a place where the government and the opposition will live happily together. But until then, we must enter the European Union.

Thank you.

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