From Apulia of VIPs, to low cost Albania/ Meloni, Rama's guest

2023-08-16 12:48:00, Aktualitet CNA

In the end, Giorgia Meloni decided to spend the middle of August with her family in Albania. Surprise departure, with the closest relatives, on a ferry of the Greek company A-Ships. Six and a half hours sailing from Brindizi to Vlora, along with a thousand other passengers.

Leaving behind, at least for a few days, the tranquility of Valle d'Itria and the intention of isolation "after three years in which I never unplugged". The prime minister who wants privacy undergoes a crowded journey across the Adriatic to respond to the invitation of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who welcomes her by mobilizing a significant security apparatus that includes - according to local sources of information - even an ambulance .

"A private visit - underlines Rama - Giorgia came by boat with many Italians to spend three days in peace. I greeted him and left him alone! But all of Albania now talks about its maximum simplicity and its arrival, with the family, among the people. I can't say more because I have an obligation to respect her privacy."

The emphasis he puts on betrays Rama's assessment of Meloni, whom the Albanian leader defined as "heiress of a tiger". Meloni's mid-August blitz strengthens a friendship and provides a first-class showcase for the country of eagles, which is experiencing an unprecedented tourism boom this summer: "At least 500,000 Italians have arrived on our beaches," says Rama, who in the last few days, he had produced on social networks a bold parallelism between the exodus of Italian tourists towards the Albanian coast and the landing of refugees who, in the opposite direction, touched Apulia in 1991.

For tourism, in reality, the challenge is open. And one of Meloni's closest people even these days, his brother-in-law and minister Francesco Lollobrigida, had relaunched it not far from last Friday during a visit to the fruit and vegetable market in Fasano, announcing the move to Vlora: " I am curious to see with my own eyes - said Lollobrigida - the gap between the high Apulian offer and the Albanian one, which is trying to gain ground by seeing our excellence. We are sure that what we find here we cannot find there".

But the interests that bind the two countries are stronger than the dispute over low-cost tourism: an agreement between the Albanian government and Eni, which is working in an area where there is gas and oil on the coast, is the latest. And Rama himself has asked the Italian government to invest in his country to build infrastructure, especially railways. In short, in these short vacations on the shores of the neighboring country, Meloni can combine the longed-for relaxation with the advancement of some files that are also on the embassies' desks.

The hottest topic has to do with energy, with the open issue of the Adriatic underwater gas pipeline and the hypothesis of building a nuclear power plant on Albanian territory. It is possible that these topics will at least be touched upon in informal conversations on the sea-view terrace of the government's summer residence in Dhërmi, not far from the port of Vlora. Before the return of the prime minister among the olive trees of the Ceglie farm. / La Repubblica- Bota.al

From Apulia of VIPs, to low cost Albania/ Meloni, Rama's guest