Integration process/ Rama: We still have a long way to go until we are part of the EU

2026-05-12 11:18:00, Aktualitet CNA

Integration process/ Rama: We still have a long way to go until we are part of

Prime Minister Edi Rama was present at the signing of the agreement for the new financing line between the European Investment Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania, to support Albanian small and medium-sized businesses in innovation, digitalization, technology and green investments.

True to his word, Rama focused on the process of Albania's integration into the EU.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the EU offers knowledge that no one else has and Albania will benefit from the opportunity offered to it.

Rama underlined that Albania still has a long way to go until it is part of the EU, but in the meantime, steps have been taken that relate to the relationship between the individual and the state, transforming services.

"There is no alternative to individual freedom and the rule of law. Albania has never had a plan B and has never looked in another direction. We have learned the hard way that any plan B or C is a plan without individual freedom and without equality before the law. We do not even want to think about returning to that time."

Other different actors are emerging, but the essence is there. The essence is present: there is only one city that shines for what we love most, our freedom and the need to live under the rule of law, and this city for us is the EU.

Why did the Afghans and Iraqis fail? The reason is that they did not have the EU as their horizon, as a source of knowledge and as a partner in the effort to build a functional state. Freedom is not enough, because it can be destroyed. The EU offers knowledge that no one in the world has; this is our blessing and our chance, and we want to take advantage of it.

"You are right to help us, you are right to believe in us. We are a country that has problems, but we have come a long way to get where we are. There is still a long way to go until we are part of the EU, but we have taken steps that have to do with the relationship between the individual and the state, transforming our services," said Rama./ CNA