Joint press conference of Prime Minister Edi Rama and Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi:
Prime Minister Rama:
Hello everyone,
Pope Francis decided to come to Tirana on his first visit to Europe. Matteo Renzi decided to come to Tirana on the last day of the semester of the European presidency, and I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for this visit which is not, as it may seem, a holiday trip but a clear message of Italy’s support to Albania and of the conviction expressed more than once by the Italian Prime Minister, on the necessity of integrating Albania as soon as possible into the European Union.
This is a special historical, traditional relationship which has been developed by all governments in Rome and Tirana, regardless of their political affiliation. But I am especially happy today because this is a special relationship between me and the Prime Minister of Italy, whom I have known for a long time and with whom I share a common view on the world, on Europe, on society and on the necessity on carrying forward the left at a rapid pace, since our society and Europe need it today more than ever.
As always, ours was an open, direct and short conversation in the sense that we reviewed all the points, highlighting what we have achieved thanks to our cooperation and what we can still achieve in the future. Once again, we received the unequivocal confirmation of Italy as a strategic partner for Albania, of the continuous and intensive support to Albania’s European path and to the economic, social and cultural development of our country.
On the other hand, besides congratulating the Prime Minister of Italy for everything Italy has done in the last 6 months of the European Presidency, but also in showing him in front of you gratitude for keeping flying high the flag of Europeanization and of the need we all have for a bigger and not smaller Europe, for a less bureaucratic and more development-oriented Europe, I want to emphasize that we set our targets in order to carry forward our cooperation on bilateral level and in terms of the effort that Albania is making to play a role in the integration of the region in Europe.
I informed the Prime Minister also on the progress we have made in the relations with Serbia and on our vision of building a strategic axis of cooperation, in view of the regional cooperation and European integration of the Balkans. Taking for granted that we will support each-other in every situation, we had, however, the pleasure of sharing the positive feeling of the latest collaboration for saving the lives of people, after the unfortunate event of the “Norman Atlantic”, which thankfully, thanks to the crossed efforts and to the commitments in the first line of the Prime Minister of Italy, was not followed by a human tragedy of unpredictable proportions.
Finally, thanking the Prime Minister for every positive remark he has made on our regional policy, on the results of the former government in Albania, I am pleased to convey the good news to an interested group that has trying for years to solve an issue carried since the 50s. Many Prime Ministers and governments of the Cold War and of the post Cold War period have tried to solve it but never could even start walking on the path of solving it. It’s about an absurd tax, carried since the 50s, on the transport of goods from Albania to Italy. Today, this tax is applied only in 3 countries, due to an absurd inertia: Albania, Iran and Syria. I am very pleased to tell every interested person, not only that the Prime Minister has been very willing since the moment we addressed the problem, but he found a solution and starting from next year this tax will go to the normal level of any tax paid by all road haulier who transport goods to Italy.
Thank you, Prime Minister!
In addition, we talked about the opening of negotiations for the recognition of pension. An admirable work has been carried out with persistence throughout the year by our Minister of Social Welfare who addressed a major problem for Albanian immigrants who work and pay taxes in other countries. His work has led to the recognition of the pension years from several countries and today, we agreed that the project put on the common table of two ministers must be carried forward with the launch of direct negotiations.
In the case of Italy we have a special pleasure to do this, because it is not only Albania that asks for the recognition of pension for a significant number of immigrants working in Italy, but also Italy, for a significant number of Italians working in Albania, who are approximately 20 thousand. There are approximately 20 thousand Italians who will benefit from the solution of this problem going on for many years.
In the end, thanking the Prime Minister for sharing with us the New Year’s eve, wishing him a successful new year on all fronts and being we convinced – at least for me to be convinced – that he will succeed without any doubt in making Italy the land of dreams and hopes of the next generation, I want to thank him for his personal commitment to prevent the closure of the Department of Albanian Studies at the University La Sapienza, which is one of those small but very qualitative realities of an old and historical relationship.
Matteo Renzi is a Florentine, a fan of Fiorentina which has won no Champions League. I do not know if he remembers any A series league, but for us he is an even more special friend because he is a Florentine. Because the contribution of people of Florentine culture in Albania is a special one. This building is the work by architects and people of the Florentine design. It was designed by someone who today is considered the father of modern design, Gio Ponti. Also, the boulevard the Prime Minister crossed to come here is the project of another Florentine architect, Armando Brasini. We are in the heart of Florentine architecture and as I told Matteo Renzi, I believe I kept my word: “Come to Tirana, because Tirana is closer to Rome than Florence and you will feel like you are in Florence”.
So, Welcome home Prime Minister!
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi:
Thank you from the heart, Mr. Prime Minister! Thank you from the heart, Edi!
Last time we met in another palace by another Florentine architect it was in “Palazzo Vecchio”, or the “Old Palace” in Florence. Back then I was Mayor while Edi had just ended his term as Mayor of Tirana. So, we met when we were mayors. Today, we have changed jobs, but above all we have decided to change in this sense our countries, because both of us want that our countries be increasingly able to build the European ideal. Yes! For Albania is already in Europe. It is not yet with the European institutions or among the 28 countries, but it is not only about accessing Albanian in Europe. Albania is already in Europe. It is about opening and enlarging even more the doors, the doors of the big European home. We must do this, because this is right. We must do this, because this is useful and, first of all, this is more useful to Europe than to Albania or other countries that already have the status of candidate country.
So, with this spirit, today, we are ending the 6-month Italian presidency of the European Union. And we chose to do this not in Rome, but in Tirana because in a way it is a small piece of the story on the future of Europe, and one day will come that we will call it, if we want say it, a small piece of the story on our past as well. Europe was born in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome, and it kept growing as the years went by. It had to face moments of enthusiasm, great joy, but also moments of difficulty. And when, finally, the Berlin Wall fell and the geography of Europe changed, we had to face new problems and challenges.
Italy and Albania knew how to face a moment of great difficulty. And today, both countries are able to visualize the future. I try to think the same about the tradition and culture of your country. As you said Mr. Prime Minister, pride and affiliation come long before the obligations deriving from the Treaty of Maastricht. I feel the same in my heart, as I stand here in this Palace built by a Florentine genius. And I believe that it is important to say, as we end this 6-month period, that either Europe will enlarge or it will lose a big chance. Albania has been officially enjoying the status of candidate country since several months now. We are very happy about it, but this is not everything. Now we need to run and to do things in such a way that negotiations be quick.
I think it is very, very important that the Albanian people know that Italy will always be, no matter what, its main and first sponsor and partner for this project. Of course, I told very clearly to Prime Minister Rama that this would also depend on what other countries do. I think that the smart and shared work that Albania and Serbia are doing at this moment is very important. Next January 23, the foreign ministers of Albania, Serbia and Italy will meet together in Rome. I hope I will receive the three together and simultaneously, the prime ministers as well for another trilateral meeting among heads of governments in the months to come. I commit since now to emphasize very strongly, in front of the European Parliament and the President of the European Commission that we cannot have a future in Europe if it’s not enlarged.
And, this is the first argument that we discussed.
We are here to end the 6-month period and to start a new history together. But it is also the great history of a bilateral friendship, of a bilateral relationship. A friendship relation between me and Edi Rama just ended with his jokes on the team of Fiorentina. We will try to fix it. I have a purple watch I am giving him and he can give me back a purple tie. You get it, don’t you?
Beyond every friendly joke and on the friendship between our peoples, this friendship needs nothing but become stronger. I am saying this also for the Italian journalists.
I find the measure provided for the law of stability very good. It only needs now an implementing decree. It is already law and will come into force the day after tomorrow. An implementing decree by Minister Lupi will be necessary. We heard him in these last hours, and he promised it will be ready within a few weeks. Jokingly, Edi says that this is a problem that has been going on since 1954. It took us 60 years, but we finally solved it. Things should be done, but they must be done quickly.
Secondly, our two ministers of Work and Social Welfare will continue negotiations on the technical tables for the recognition of pensions.
I think the topic on the protection of the Department of Albanian Language and Albanian Studies is important as well, but I think it’s important that we do another effort, thanks to the friendship of the Albanian Government, to affirm with more determination the Italian presence in Albania. Even here, this is for the Italian journalists, in the law of stability we have for the first time an important contribution, which will grow in the coming years, on learning the Italian language abroad. And this will be done not only through traditional channels. Here, the Italian language is especially present through TV, satellite channels. We don’t have the monopoly of foreign languages, but we discussed on this with the Italian ambassador, so that the education system may offer other options.
We are sure of the cooperation with the Albanian Government and of the conviction to cooperate in other sectors such as hydro energy or other sectors.
All these issues were discussed or will be further discussed with the Albanian government.
I would conclude saying that someone once told that history will end, but in fact history did not end. After the fall of the Berlin Wall someone wrote: “End of the story”. History did not end, but geography changed. The region of the Balkans knows very well how much geography has changed. Not only with the multiplication of countries, their growth in numbers, but also with the centralization of new problems. When somebody questions the accession of Albania or of other Balkan countries to the European Union, this somebody is totally wrong because, opposite to the geopolitical challenges, it is extremely important for Albania not only to be part of the European Union, but in its very heart together with us all. So, not in front of the end of history but in front of the geographic change, Italy’s foreign politics has two main pillars: the Mediterranean area, as countries of our sea – precisely during these first months we have developed many initiatives from Tunisia, Algeria, in Cairo and everything that came from the Mediterranean area – and in the Balkans, a region of wars throughout a century and which is now a region of peace. And I want to conclude exactly with this: in Wells, Edi and I talked. He did a beautiful speech during a plenary meeting with President Obama, Mr. Cameron, etc., where he noted that in 2014, 100 years after Sarajevo or World War II, today the Balkans is a region capable of building peace and provide more development opportunities. And I was very impressed by this. We were all touched by this. I like to think that 2014, this year that is ending – I take the occasion to extend my wishes to all of you – could be a good chance for Europe to be more and more home of hope, and not only a place where people talk only about obligations. For, if we strengthen the European dream, then we will be able to give the young generations enthusiasm and reliability. But, if we lose the chance to be ourselves, we will betray our past and even worse, we will betray our future. We are here today, on December 30, to tell you that we want to build our future together.
I thank you from the heart. I will see you in Italy, and also in Albania, especially as we work together. For we will work in order to make Albania feel like home in Europe, and make Europe be home of citizens. So, it will cease being a place only of bureaucracy, and will be a place of hope and dream. That is what we tried to do in these 6 months.
Thank you!
Prime Minister Rama defined Italy a strategic partner. How would you, Prime Minister Renzi, classify Albania in the context of these relations? And secondly, have you concretely discussed about intensifying economic and trade relations?
Prime Minister Renzi: Albania’s role is absolutely crucial and I tried to say this previously. It is not by chance that we are here, and it is also a proof that the relationship between the Albanian community and the Italian community has totally changed over the years. Everything has really totally changed and this is something very beautiful. This is a history of integration and success. To us, Albania is today a natural partner and a key player in the Balkan region; in addition, it has a smart and charismatic leader. Not because Edi was mayor or because he belongs to the world of culture, but because his reforms are necessary to Albania; not because Europe says so, but because these reforms are necessary to the Albanian people.
To us, you really are natural interlocutors and this is something very beautiful which happens mainly from a community point of view. In addition, I find it more than appraisable that we have an integration of our communities, because we have a big community of Albanian citizens, and also families of Albanian citizens who live in Italy and Albanian citizens who were born there. So, they are children of a history of immigration which was a big deal back in 1997, in 1998, but now it is a history of success and tranquillity. Of course, this does not underestimate the economic aspect. We talked about some opportunities and perspectives. We talked also about a bet, about the integration bet which is a win-win bet, so it is a bet for both of us and if we are able to build a partnership, cooperation with the Serbian realities will be even more interesting. There are here many small and medium Italian businesses. Also, there is a big number of Albanians who work and live in Italy. So, what we want is a further implementation of this history.
Prime Minister Rama: Of course, we talked also about economic cooperation. I mentioned here three concrete issues, but there is an ongoing and intensive discussion on economic cooperation, and above all it comes naturally every time we are in touch with each other, in the joint work with Italy, thanks also to the presence of a special ambassador, which is Ambassador Gaiani who represents Italy. On the other hand, with great dignity and affection he helps us represent our interests while communication with the Italian entrepreneurship, and as you know it is a firm communication that we are following according to a calendar established initially in the North of Italy.
And so true is this, as I am convinced that if the ambassador asked for the Albanian citizenship, we would grant it to him immediately and we would even be ready to propose him as Albania’s ambassador to Rome.
As far as our effort is concerned, I could have talked but I didn’t want to put Matteo in a difficult situation by urging Italian entrepreneurs to come to Albania because there are no unions here and because they will not pay more than 15% of the profit. But I keep telling him this and I can tell this to him also in other instances. So, I don’t want to bother my friend here in Tirana and he has not come in Tirana to recall that there are unions in Italy or realize that there are no unions in Albania.
Prime Minister Renzi: I was kidding. I was kidding.
Hello Prime Minister Rama. Hello Prime Minister Renzi. You just overcome the joint challenge of the Norman Atlantic, since you saved lives and avoided a tragedy. There are other issues, such as the safety on the boat and the issue of the security in the Adriatic Sea. This question is for Prime Minister Rama, bur Prime Minister Renzi can answer as well. How much can the crisis in Greece affect or destroy this dream of Albania’s?
Prime Minister Renzi: Let me say that our prayers, love and solidarity go to the families of the victims and of course to the families of our fellow citizens, of all those who lost their lives in the Norman Atlantic. My thoughts go also to the Turkish sailors who died near the Italian coast. It was a very hard day, this last Sunday. As far as the reasons of what happened are concerned, it is up to the judiciary to shed light on it.
Of course, I am grateful to Prime Minister Edi Rama for the prompt cooperation in those difficult hours. Your Minister of Defense contacted immediately our Minister of Defense, Ms. Pinotti. We had also very good cooperation with Greek Prime Minister, Samaras. My condolences go to the families of the two Albanian sailors who died during the rescue operations. The Italian government and the Albanian government are close to these families. It is important for the proud question to not sound differently, especially after these words of grief. It is the pride of all men and women, of the Albanian, Italian, Greek institutions, especially the Italian ones I would say in this case, of the ports and the navy that intervened in such a difficult situation. There were some very heroic moments. More than 400 lives were saved in extremely bad conditions, and fire was prevented from expanding in an unstoppable way. If this had occurred, we would have had a real massacre. Of course, the families who lost their loved ones will not have them back, so words must be chosen very carefully for those who died and for their families. But if we consider the rescue operations, how it was carried out in such conditions, when in the night between Sunday and Monday we were told that the situation was becoming increasingly bad, that the fire was expanding increasingly and that the chances were likely to abandon the boat with over 300 passengers on board. The situation was extremely bad; a very good job was done and we are proud of it. Now it’s up to the judiciary to shed light on what happened.
I believe that Italy and Albania proved to be highly efficient and all the merit goes to all the people involved. In the coming days I would like to meet the helicopter pilot who ran back and forth between the boat and the coast for many long hours. All this makes us be proud for the work done. Thank you also to the Albanian authorities for their full cooperation and let me express the highest respect for the judiciary.
Prime Minister Rama: Unfortunately, today we learned the bad news on the death of the two sailors on the Albanian tugboat. They were not part of the Armed Forces, as it was said before, but they were called to help with the operation. My condolences go to their families and to the families of all those who died. Let me say that first of all we have to thank Matteo Renzi for how he coordinated and led an extremely difficult operation, given the extremely bad weather conditions. On the other hand, I want to say that I am proud of our Armed Forces, our Minister of Defense and our Minister of Interior who engaged in this operation and measured up with the challenge, by giving their precious contribution to this operation that involved three countries. Of course, it is always hard to rejoice for what did not happen, but if we consider the operation from within, a real catastrophe that could have extraordinary proportions was avoided. And this is for all the people who fought on the front line, as Mr. Prime Minister said, in extremely bad weather and technical conditions, on a boat that was kept hostage of the fire.
As for the question on the Greek crisis, I am following with admiration the effort that Prime Minister Samars and the coalition government are making to address a problem overcharged by the past where instead of reforms there were expenditures, and instead of approaching problems they were hidden so that confrontation with reality was always postponed and left to the following governments. I believe that what this difficult time has shown about Greece is not only that the path of reforms is inevitable, but that today it is time to do the reforms that previous governments passed on to others, trying to buy time and not use power to give back to people what they asked for with their vote. Those governments were consumed by power and at the same time discredited politics and the political class.
Albania is on the path of economic growth. We closed last year with a very aggressive program of reforms agreed on with the International Monetary Fund, in order to face a hidden debt and a direct debt of 720 million dollars of unpaid public works, unpaid services for hospitals and schools, of the non reimbursed value added tax, and I am very proud that by tomorrow morning we will pay off 400 million dollars and next year we will pay off the entire amount of debts that led to a financial stalemate and to the confusion of the state’s balance sheets.
On the other hand, we have created the conditions to build a new model of development. Albania has based its development on two sources that now are running out: the construction booming and immigration remittances, which have dramatically reduced, year after year, also because immigrants in Greece and Italy have been facing for years the economic crisis of the countries where they live and work. Both these cannot be considered anymore a source of growth, that’s why we are looking towards production activities. Luckily, Albania has much potential in energy, minerals, tourism, agriculture and of course manufacturing, which has had an increase in exports by 28%. A great potential is also exports that are increasingly growing, and we welcome Italian companies that are coming numerous in our country because they find here a very favorable environment, just one hour away from Italy – as if they were within Italy; everybody here speaks Italian, the labor force is willing and young, the tax system is very simple, only 15% on the profit regardless of the profit, so we have a flat tax of 15% for companies, and of course absolute flexibility in the employment contracts: no unions that can bother us, and merit is assessed through work.
Meanwhile, we are following with great admiration and attention everything that Matteo Renzi’s government is doing to address corruption and bureaucracy. We have a big problem with corruption and a big problem with the public administration because of a frozen system of rules that are used only with the intent to avoid work.
As far as Europe is concerned, we strongly believe and hope that Europe will be closer to the hopes of people than to their fear, that it will be a force that promotes hope more than fear.
Dear Excellencies prime ministers, in the past you were both mayors, while now you are both prime ministers and followers of Tony Blair’s policies but the left parties you lead accuse you of undertaking reforms that are right reforms. How would you respond to this?
Prime Minister Renzi: This is not true.
Prime Minister Rama: This is absolutely not true.
