Prime Minister Edi Rama is on a two-day visit to Slovenia to attend the annual Bled Strategic Forum international conference. Prime Minister Edi Rama and the accompanying delegation were hosted by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Robert Golob, last evening.
Bled Strategic Forum is a global platform for generating ideas and exchanging views on contemporary society and its future, offering strategic views and solutions to the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow, which are promoted through events, discussions, roundtables, projects, analyses and publications.
Its central annual event – the Bled Strategic Forum international conference – is the leading conference in Central and South-Eastern Europe with this year’s event taking place under the title ‘Solidarity for Global Security‘. Prime Minister Edi Rama participated in the Leaders Panel along with the prime ministers of Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, the Chairwoman of Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Prime Minister of Croatia. The panel was moderated by internationally renowned TV presenter and talk show host, Ali Aslan.
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-Mr. Prime Minister Rama, last time you were on the stage here, you said a beautiful phrase when I asked how you feel about the future of the Western Balkans; You said, “Now that it is actually a figure attached to your aspirations, is that the much needed impetus, the much needed motivation now for you to fulfil your part too?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: With this panel like a bus, I am tragically more optimistic, although it is certainly better than a Russian plane. First of all, I would like to very much thank both Robert and Charles, not because I know how to be a good diplomat, since I am not one, but because of the very warm welcome we were extended and the very open and, I would say, heartfelt conversation we had last evening. And I am very happy to see a leader, a politician to speak the same during a dinner as well as in front of a forum. So, thank you Charles! Finally, thank you, because it was really amazing.
It is really the moment to say that if what Charles said was to be materialized in terms of some real steps forward –not that I believe that in 2030 we will be European Union member states – but at least it would be materialized regarding some of the steps and that would be really very good. This is because while we speak about converging with the EU, everyone has to understand that the gap of EU contribution per capita towards the Western Balkan states is about 130 plus euros for six of us here and more than 4000 euros for just two of us here.
This somehow has to be understood and has to be addressed through some concrete steps, considering that this hasn’t to be all or nothing from the moment that these countries have embarked on the EU path to the moment they become full-fledged members, there should be things in between, not just principles and values and lessons, which are absolutely very necessary, not just reforms and criticism, which are again absolutely necessary, but also some more consistent support, and I am not saying simply financially, but also in terms of the access of our countries to the common market and in terms of a much more open space also for our enterprises, because – and I will conclude here – everyone has to bear in mind that what is happening all these years in these countries, is that on one hand through the Berlin Process we talk about connectivity and infrastructure, about projects and ways how to finance them, and, on the other hand, guess who is building the infrastructure; Americans, Chinese, Arabs, countries that, as far as I know, have not to fulfil the Acquis, but this should be somehow taken into consideration. The last point is that I have always thought that working pro bono against the West for 50 years Enver Hoxha made us the most pro-American and most pro-European people. So, it could take 50 years after the fall of communism for us to become unconditionally pro-West, pro-American and pro-European people. So, we have 20 more years of Euro-optimism and we hope you Charles would deliver on your promise until then.
-To do a final quick round Prime Minister Rama, there is a legend here in Bled, which goes that if you ring the wishing bell in the church tower here in Bled island at least three times, your wish actually might come true. I don’t know whether we have time to actually do it, but hypothetically speaking, moving forward for your own country, what is the wish, particularly in regards to the country’s future in Europe?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: First of all, I have to say that I am not impatient at all. I used to be impatient a lot before starting the accession negotiations, because it looked very neurotic that they were telling us “we want to marry you, but we don’t want to talk to you.” Now that we are talking, we are fine. We will do our job, because after all, the whole process of the accession talks is not to convince the EU that we are fit for it, but it is about transforming our own country and the accession talks, in my view, are the most incredible know-how transfer on the state building process that human kind has ever created. Going back to the wish, and I don’t want to sound dark here, but I was listening to Dritan, from the sun and fund country, who mentioned something which is very important. There is a very natural and it should certainly be like that, because the EU is about values, it is about very important principles and this is what has created it as a peace project based on the very values and principles that Ukraine should be seen like a possible EU member state. But I wish this won’t be to the detriment of the Western Balkans. Otherwise, as Dritan was talking, I was looking and thinking: “Who should attack who in this panel in order to get the EU membership faster together with Ukraine. And Bulgaria can easily attack North Macedonia, Croatia can easily attack Serbia, Serbia can easily attack Kosovo, Bosnia can attack itself, no problem. In the meantime, I am sure that if we ask the Greeks to do us the favour, they will be pleased to attack us. Montenegro can play dead in the beach and this way can be all ready to join the train with Ukraine. This is the way I would sum it up.
I know it sounds a bit dark, but after this Russian plane story we are bit puzzled. Concluding in a different note, I don’t know whether you have heard about Russia having this negotiation to unify the time, since they have a nine-hour difference from one part of the country to the other, and the Russian Prime Minister went to Putin and told him: Mr. President, we have a problem. I sent my family on holidays and I called them to tell them “good night”, but it was already morning and they were on the beach. I called Olaf Scholz to congratulate him on his anniversary, but he said that his anniversary is tomorrow. I called Xi Jinping to wish him a Happy New Year, but I was told it is still the old year there. And Putin replies: Yes, it has happened to me too. I called Prigozhin to say “sorry for your loss”, but the plane had to take off yet.
-I am removing this last one from the wish list.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: I think it is better the list than talking about normalization here, because everyone would become abnormal at the end of this.
