Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama at the International Conference “Albania and Europe, 25 years after the fall of communism”:

I think it was a very wise choice of the organizers’ to put us in front such a topic as it is written in the background, “Albania and Europe, 25 years after the fall of communism”.

It is a topic that could take days and nights, and certainly we would not be able to hold an exhaustive discussion, but of course I believe it is a subject that drives us to make a reflection, although a brief one, on what was Albania 25 years ago, what was Europe 25 years ago, and what Albania and Europe are today.

Without claiming to be absolutely right, I would like to share with you a fact. If we refer to the path that many communist countries have walked to break free from respective dictatorships, and to the fact that Albania was the last country that managed to demolish the most savage dictatorship within the walls of the former Communist empire, we can understand the path to integration. If we look at the speed with which countries were able to catch the train of the European Union, it is still the same graph, the same row; the path was easier for those countries that broke free sooner, but this is not because the difference lays in the timeframe from 1989 to 1990, but because, I believe, the difference did and continues to lay still to this day in the past.

For countries like Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, the journey towards the European Union was a journey to renew the broken thread of a story that had built the European institutions, the European universities, and a network of trust within the broad society of European countries in terms of religious institutions. Whereas, countries for which it was more difficult either to free themselves from the dictatorship or to integrate, or that still have difficulties in the way of integration, the gap of the institutions in the past was a factor, and I am not talking about the recent past of communism, but also about a more distant past.

If we look back at history and see our past in relation to the challenge of integration, which ultimately is neither more nor less but the challenge of building a modern state, with functioning institutions to implement a democratic constitution, and if we compare the picture that we have ahead with the picture laying before the eyes of those who have preceded us in the integration process and have joined the European family before us, it is clear that we have an extraordinary historical disadvantage. Not to mention the period of communist barbarism that was unique for its brutality compared to communist governments in other countries, precisely because it was based on this gap.

Ultimately, the first lesson learned in these 25 years of dealing with our past and with the challenges of European integration is that it is not the climate, it is not geography, and it is not the history of people that makes the difference. It is rather the history of institutions and the tradition of the state as such, regardless of the people and regardless of generations that replace each other.

I believe that we can share another fact without any major difficulties, although we may not totally agree with it. The culture of our coexistence in these 25 years, I mean our political and democratic coexistence, has been very much affected by the communist past. Just as Albania has been a lot affected by the past as a whole, because of what I said earlier.

It has been affected a lot, because we are all witnesses to the fact that Communism used to hit mercilessly until it took away the life of the messenger to delete the message. There was no possible debate, and actually no opponents either, but there were only enemies. Enemies that had to be physically annihilated, kidnapped, imprisoned, deported, so that their suffering would convey to others the message that if they joined them or resembled them, they would have the same fate.

Unfortunately, we have not freed ourselves from this in these 25 years, although we have been living since 25 years in a system that does imprison, does not shoot, does not deport or pursue people in the physical sense of the word. But it is a fact that we have continued for 25 years dealing much more with the messenger rather than the message. Culturally speaking, we have not overcome yet the intermediate stage, where the opponent, the other is accepted as part of the diversity that we have chosen by choosing democracy, and not an enemy to be destroyed.

If until yesterday, destruction escalated in court with prosecutors and without lawyers, and before execution squads or behind doors of the prison, today have not annihilation, but have a daily recycling of a highly polarized political process. In my view, this process is a reflection of the old culture of the past, of an unhealthy relationship with the opponent as inalienable data of the democratic system.

Taking into account these two things I said, after 25 years, we are able together – and here I do not think it is hard to agree – to say that the process of European integration is a unique and irreplaceable instrument, which neither we nor any country would be able to invent, if it were absent in the path of construction of the system of institutions, and in the path of transformation of coexistence in freedom, in a democratic coexistence, which are two qualitatively different things.

25 years ago the system collapsed in a few days; the new constitution was ready a few years later, and was adopted in a relatively short time. But we cannot say today that we have guaranteed the system we needed and we need to replace, or to fill the gap left by the communist regime, nor the institutions that are there the embodiment of everything written in the Constitution.

Today we are in an extremely interesting and extremely sensitive stage of our and Europe’s history, if we keep referring to what has been cleverly defined as the main subject of this activity, “Albania and Europe, 25 years later”. I agree with the previous speakers here that if there were for us a process which, in relation to what every one of us is looking for today, has however been an ongoing progress with an aim at becoming part of Europe, Europe itself today seems to struggle in a trap, at a crossroads.

A crossroads where, in fact, what is happening, for example, the refugee crisis and the quite unmatched situation between what is happening among Germany, Austria and many other countries in coping with the crisis, or even the victory two days ago of the right-wing extremists in France, simply highlight and are all symptoms of an internal process. A process within the European Union, which has gradually transformed Europe from a major strategic project in a community of national selfishness and tactical project.

A tactical project chopped into 28 parts because of the 28 member countries, which have 28 general elections, 28 administrative elections, 28 European elections, and so on, and which we are aware have increasingly dictated the process to advance the strategic project of the European Union.

However, to conclude, I believe that today we can say, at a time when World War III as Pope Francis calls it has started, Albania continues to be loyal to the European dream and to the process of integration into the European Union. At this point there are no divisions, no differences, no controversies. Fortunately, since the first day after the establishment of pluralism and to date, there has been in Albania no force to oppose this project because there would be no chance to survive the judgment of the people.

But it doesn’t mean that it is going to be always like this. It depends very much on what Europe will be tomorrow and how Europe will behave with the Balkans and Albanians. However, we are in a process where despite the transfer of powers, despite the differences among parties, there is a relay. And this relay is easily readable, if we do not refer to newspapers that are part of the apocalyptic vision of the internal dissension in Albanian politics, but refer to the progress reports of the European Union and other documents.

In fact, priorities or problems continue to be the same as they were years ago, but the quality of the way they are addressed, and the attempt to resolve them is part of an effort that has been increasing and passed from hand to hand. If we are today in a new process of reforms, this applies precisely as a result of a constant and internal momentum that the interior call of Europe’s has had since the first day students went out in the city squares.

Ultimately, no matter what Europe will be tomorrow, what is certain is that with these reforms imposed by the process of Europeanization and driven increasingly strongly from this dream, Albania will be able to have a serious, modern and functional state which is not the work of a majority, but I hope that tomorrow, compared with history, it will be the work of a generation, with all its errors and faults, but also with its genuine efforts.

In conclusion, I would like to raise only one question. If we referred again to 25 years ago, and if we asked ourselves what Albania would be today without the European dream, and what Albania would be today if we didn’t have had this golden opportunity that is integration process, everyone could answer, but I believe that this answer as a whole would be a very grim picture. The same is true for Europe. What will Europe be tomorrow, if it abandons the dream and the project of its founding fathers?

These are open questions which, even if we tried day and night, would be hard to answer in an infallible way, but one thing is sure: Europe is for us an ongoing dream and an inner strength that has the ability to keep us united, despite our undisputed ability to not agree on what time it is. I am convinced that, if we looked at the clock, we would have two different times from the various parties that are here.

But we don’t have two different views about what Europe is for us. This is due of course to all those who gave life to this historic process on 8 December 25 years ago, and certainly it weighs as a burden and an obligation on all of us, to pass on to our children a country that resembles as much to the dream that made pour in the streets those who yesterday were young and today have become grandparents, without forgetting that those who were born on December 8, today are 25 years old.

Thank you!