In his speech at this ministerial meeting, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that the time has come to think outside the box. Furthermore, the Head of Albanian Government emphasized that today the EU needs the Western Balkans as much as the Western Balkans needs the EU.
“I want to remind you that this process started under the auspices of Chancellor Merkel in 2014, when for the first time in history leaders from the entire Western Balkans sat together around a table to talk about the future of their countries.
As Chancellor Merkel said in 2014 when this process was launched, a strong and healthy tree has grown. We are already looking to get the fruit because the tree is ripe enough to give us the fruit.
The time has come to think outside the box and this is exactly what we are looking to do with this summit and what I am feeling in conversations and communications with our EU friends”, said Rama.
He further emphasized that the Berlin Summit will have to discuss something completely new that 5 years ago was unimaginable, the EU’s future plan to support the Western Balkans.
“Yesterday I had the pleasure of having a very exhaustive conversation with our friend from the government of France and I must say that it was a conversation that 5 years ago would have been impossible to have. Things have changed and we see with great interest that in the EU there is a much stronger conviction and they are more open about the importance of the Western Balkans for the EU.
Today the EU needs the Western Balkans as much as the Western Balkans needs the EU. We are here with ministers and prominent officials from BP countries and the EU to discuss the most essential topics of this process that includes strengthening our economies including the connection with the EU economic sphere.
The summit will have to discuss something completely new that 5 years ago was unimaginable, the EU’s future plan to support the Western Balkans by opening up in several ways that will bring us closer to the EU, while as for the merit-based integration process, each country must do its own tasks. Phased integration into the common market promises to give us an invaluable insight into the economic growth of the Western Balkans in the next 10 years. It is time to move forward together and ensure that promising words lead to promising deeds.
We may still have unresolved issues in this region, but through this process we have learned that the only way to get along is to agree as much as possible on the things we can do together.
We have seen more and more how important it is to address our issues. The better the atmosphere of cooperation, the stronger the bridges between our countries, the better the space to deal with even the most difficult issues”, declared Prime Minister Rama.
/abcnews.al
