The cherry passed to bitcoin!

2026-04-28 09:44:00, Opinione Lutfi Dervishi

The news that a kilogram of cherries in Tirana went on the market for 36 euros per kilogram was received with deep concern in Monaco.

Because when a kg of cherries in Tirana goes for $49, the question for the Mediterranean financial elite becomes very serious: are we losing our strategic advantage as an expensive country?

In a country like the principality of Monaco where 70% of the residents are millionaires, price is not a problem, it's a matter of reputation.

As for the EU, the situation is even more delicate.

The European Commission is seriously analyzing this development. Not in the chapter of agriculture, but in that of economic philosophy.

Because a country that sells cherry pits more expensively than a chicken has taken a big step: it has moved from a productive economy, one of knowledge, data, and attention, to an economy of the absurd.

This is no small feat for a place where absurdity seems to have made up its mind to drink coffee three times a day. In fact, the Guinness World Records office has resigned in the face of our award: this institution will now officially be renamed the 'Tirana Cherry Record'."

"In the European Council, Germany is considering backing down from its strong stance on IBAR. We have to accept that we are in a new phase," said an official from Berlin.

Official sources say that governments, until yesterday skeptical, have been impressed: "A country that manages to increase the price of cherries without increasing quality has extraordinary negotiating potential."

The Commission itself is urgently considering the issue of suspending IPARD funds for Albania. Theoretically, the funds have been suspended for three years due to abuses, said the Commission's deputy spokesperson, but in practice, the reality on the ground is suggesting an innovative solution: the Commission has decided not to wait any longer for the conclusions of the investigations and the return of the funds, but to open an emergency fund for planting cherries.

The reasoning is simple: if a kilogram sells for the price of a dinner in Brussels, then every tree is a strategic investment.

At an emergency meeting of the European Central Bank, the idea of ??linking the euro to the rate of Tirana cherries was floated. But the plan failed. Experts concluded that the euro is too volatile to be compared to such a powerful asset. Meanwhile, in Albania, people are eagerly awaiting the watermelon season, where a slice will likely cost as much as a weekend in Dubai.

At this point, Albania has entered a new phase of integration. Because if once the question was “can we meet EU standards?”, now the question is more practical: Can the EU meet our standards?/ CNA