Edi Rama: “Greece cheated into joining the euro zone”

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who will host the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana today and meet with the Greek Prime Minister, gave an interview to EURACTIV and made insulting comments about Greece, saying that the Greeks entered the eurozone by deceit.

“Greece cheated a lot. She took money from Europe, went through a period of luxury, and then ended up very badly,” he said, showing how … he was not interested in meeting with Mitsotakis, who made it clear from the very beginning that his support Albania’s entry into EU is self-evident.

“We must not forget that the process of integration is a process based on personalities and values.

We have to do “homework”, this is not an exam where you can cheat. Even if the teachers really want to help you pass the exam […] it’s in your best interest to get it right,” says Rama. “And since it’s in our interest,” he said, “we need to have functioning institutions.” “Not like some countries did in the past, like the neighboring country, Greece who cheated a lot. She took money from Europe, went through a period of luxury, and then ended up very badly,” the Albanian prime minister said.

In addition, Edi Rama raised the issue of war reparations from Greece last year in order to apply to The Hague to delimit the EEZ. At the same time, K. Mitsotakis is the most fanatical supporter of Albania’s EU membership.

Mitsotakis expressed satisfaction with the fact that, as he said, this is the first time such a summit is being held in a candidate country, while recalling that the whole process began in Thessaloniki in 2003, and this at a time when E. Rama called the Greeks a little earlier.. scammers

“Greece continues to support the European perspective of the Western Balkans,” the prime minister said, and with regard to bilateral relations with Albania, Mitsotakis said that “our will is to put our bilateral relations on the path of even greater rapprochement.”

Albania started EU accession negotiations in June 2022 and is about to start the process of bringing its legislation in line with EU law. However, there are many areas in need of reform, such as the rule of law, corruption and freedom of the media, according to the European Commission’s latest reform report released in October.

Asked if he believes his government is responsible for slow progress in key areas, Rama acknowledged that mistakes had been made. “Looking back, there are always things that could be done better, and there are always problems that could be done better, no doubt,” he said, adding that there are initiatives to improve media freedom.

Tuesday’s summit comes amid protests led by former Prime Minister and President Sali Berisha, who accused the Rama government of corruption and of doing nothing to prevent mass migration.

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