Joint press conference by Prime Minister Edi Rama and Kosovo counterpart Albin Kurti after joins session of the governments of Albania and Kosovo:
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Hello everyone and I would like to wish welcome to reporters from Kosovo, as well as Tirana reporters, who have travelled to Elbasan to provide coverage of the seventh joint meeting of the governments of Albania and Kosovo.
I believe you were informed about concrete outcomes of today’s meeting which has been prepared with a special intensity, so to say, thanks to the intense preparation work already done. A series of concrete accords have been signed since the previous joint meeting in Prishtina and I would like to single out the agreement on launch of immediate work on the feasibility study of the Durrës-Prishtina railway project, which – and this is worth noting – has been included in the next year’s state budget by the governments of both countries, and both respective ministries have already agreed to set up a joint working team.
Likewise, I would also like to highlight the agreement designed to take customs cooperation to a whole new level, tackling a long-standing demand forwarded by exporters and importers on both sides of the border as the direct beneficiaries, as well as the economies of our countries.
Further on, I would also like to underline that elimination of the double bureaucratic procedures in all sectors is our priority, namely creation of a new joint manual for standard operating procedures in Durrës customs is the key to taking free movement and customs procedures to a new level.
Third, I would also like to emphasize – and I believe it is good news for the citizens on both sides of the border and for Kosovo citizens in particular, who head to Albania in droves on the weekends or during the summer season – that we have finally agreed on devising a new customs and border regime, taking into consideration the indispensability of avoiding endless long queues caused by double border checks and the interior ministries of both countries have agreed to work with their teams on building an alternative monitoring system through use of security cameras only, ultimately eliminating physical controls and making the border practically totally fluid.
To conclude, I would also like to underline our shared objective, not only the shared objective of both governments, but also my and Albin’s objective to further expand the common network of consular services based on a series of positive models. Our common consular services have been established in Milan, Italy, and Munich, Germany, and we are seeking to create much more common spaces of joint consular services to provide our citizens with a single address to obtain such services and rationalize our spending, because such a move would help both sides not to rent different premises and employ to consular services, but they will come together renting same building and money we will save can be channelled by the foreign ministries to cover related costs regarding the relations with the respective diasporas.
I would like to sincerely thank the Kosovo government team and Albin in person for speeding up this process. This is the seventh joint meeting and many bilateral agreements have been already signed. The truth is that a number of these agreements have been fully implemented, some of them are in the process of implementation, but it is equally true that the problem of moving from the high political level to the executive level of the administration is a hindering problem.
Last but not least, the common decision of both governments on setting up the Coordination Secretariat between the two governments in a bid to implement all the bilateral deals and commitments as a working mechanism tasked with monitoring and reporting to the offices of both prime ministers, but also being available to all cabinet members to coordinate their bilateral interaction and, on the other hand, the Secretariat will also inform both prime ministers about any problem being encountered along the implementation process, but which needs direct institutional intervention by the prime ministers, represents a step that we both strong believe will significantly speed up all other steps.
My dear friend Albin, thank you very much for taking the trouble to come over here. As I earlier said, we would have wished to welcome you on a sunny day, but this is not the case today, but I hope this continued rainfall is a good omen of progress in our shared effort to deliver on our common great and unchangeable goal, namely unification and intensification of the entire space of interactions between the two states, actually aiming to turn the border into a formality in terms of what defines us as two different states and not as a wall or an obstacle to interactions between the two communities we are incredibly honoured to represent.
PM Albin Kurti: Thank you very much Prime Minister Rama! Dear Edi, we are together sowing the seeds and we will need both much sunlight and rain for the fruits to grow, so that we and our citizens on both sides of the border can enjoy them as we make more efforts to further and increasingly liberalize and minimize the border between us.
Honourable journalists, ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased with the seventh joint meeting between our governments of the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Albania.
During Prime Minister Rama’s visit to Prishtina two months ago, we jointly vowed to coordinate and synchronize our efforts in every sector. Today’s meeting represents a significant step towards this direction. Under the agreements we signed today, 13 in total, and through implementation of the existing deals between our two governments, will further strengthen cooperation for more justice, equality, development and prosperity for all Albanians living on both sides of the border and in the region. The increasing number of agreements will be associated with more quality in their implementation, because these agreements are of tremendous economic, cultural and historic importance.
The cooperation between our two governments will strengthen our states and will make the dreams of our citizens to live proudly in their country come true.
In addition to that, this meeting of our two governments and the agreements we have signed are part of the horizon of European Union integration, which is our ultimate fate. The more integrated we are, the better it will be for the citizens and the more convinced and encouraged they will be to build their lives and the lives of their families in their homeland.
Therefore, agreements like these today will enable us to translate the vision and programs of the two governments into more concrete actions to be as effective and fruitful as possible.
At the Albania-Kosovo Business Forum later today we will explore and discuss concrete actions with representatives of manufacturing and exporting companies from Albania and Kosovo. We welcome this discussion to assess our economic cooperation to date and to explore new opportunities and ways for new markets and expanded capacities.
Our historical, cultural, linguistic ties are our strong promising indicators for increasing trade exchanges and deepening economic cooperation.
I would like to thank once again the Prime Minister Rama, the government of Albania, our two teams, our two governments that came together at this palace, and the Coordination Secretariat for this excellent organization.
-My first question is for both prime ministers. Mr, Kurti said he was pleased that these agreements were signed in Albania today, but indeed, your three predecessors have been equally happy after seven joint government meetings have been held in the last seven years and around 100 agreements have been signed. However, little has been done to implement these agreements. Actually, these meetings seem to me like a copy of the Berlin Process with annual gatherings, agreements being signed each year, but yielding zero results. It looks like that more is being done with the Open Balkans initiative as meetings as part of the initiative are more intense and more frequent. Is bureaucracy to be blamed for this?
The second question is for PM Kurti. Do you think that your staff will consider the joint session of both governments a very important event to post on the social media, which was not the case during PM Rama’s official visit to Prishtina in September?
PM Edi Rama: I will answer your first question, since Albin has to answer two of your questions. We have to acknowledge that the bilateral agreements haven’t been fully implemented and this is an issue we have been discussing together since day one. I have been discussing this issue anytime a new government has taken office in Kosovo, but it is absolutely not true that zero results have been produced, because if we are to consider all the deals one by one we would see that a good part of them have been fully implemented, some of them are in the process, whereas a few of them have stalled.
Second, I would like to say that a more dynamic approach has been pursued in terms of relation with Albin and the current Kosovo government, and we have been focusing on concrete agreements and concrete outcomes. I would illustrate it by bringing the example of the railway project. We signed the agreement today, but in the meantime, both governments in Kosovo and Albania have included the feasibility study of the project on their respective state budgets for 2022 and once the project is ready we will jointly present it for funding under the European Union’s Investment Package.
This is just one among so many examples. Another example is the fact that we have been constantly discussing ways to further liberalize free movement of people and goods through the border, but we have also many times backtracked for many reasons I can’t name here today. However, a new solution has been found by the interior ministers of Kosovo and Albania and, to fully answer your question, such a solution shows once again this is not about just signing agreements for the sake of agreements and everything has then to be discussed at the following joint meeting, but there is a reflection on what has not gone right in terms of the agreements implementation in the past and a concrete work is underway.
Another example is the Coordinating Secretariat. One should bear in mind that it was not us who invented this mechanism today. Establishing the Secretariat has been a must and various names have been proposed, but it is only today that we agreed to establish it. We formalized the Secretariat today, but the Secretary and his coordinator have already started working since my last Prishtina visit, after agreeing in principle to form this mechanism and you already know the head of the Secretariat.
It is a concrete and meaningful example of an individual, who enjoys total respect by the two sides and he has already started working in his capacity as head of this Secretariat.
I want to say we should be as appreciative, as judgmental about what hasn’t probably worked properly in the past. In this case, it is your business to see the glass half empty, and it is my business to see it half full. What matters most is the fact that one can quench thirst with the glass half full, but he can’t do so with the glass half empty.
PM Albin Kurti: First, my predecessors were undoubtedly satisfied with the previous meetings and I have no doubt about the good intentions. In the meantime, it is also evident that there have been setbacks, but all setbacks and difficulties make us more enthusiastic and zealous to overcome them.
All the deficiencies or shortcomings should be a reason for us to work harder and not to become depressed; because we can’t afford it as otherwise we would fail. On the contrary, I believe that this meeting is certainly the seventh session in a row, but it is a meeting with a coordinator of the Joint Secretariat, who, due to our work and our commitment, I believe should not be blamed, but praised for timely implementation of our agreements.
I would urge my staff to be more active on the virtual media too, but primarily in practical, real, public work, since we all face many daunting tasks in the efforts to fully deliver on these agreements and if sometimes there are mistakes or unintentional deficiencies, this by no means, by anyone, should ever be regarded as a wrongful or ill-wished intention.
I am very optimistic about what we are doing this year and I believe that next year will be the one when we will see the citizens’ interests will become a duty and responsibility for us as key state officials and we will certainly become subject to harsher criticism, calling for harder work, but we will allow by no means pessimism for failures.
– You are basically reaching many agreements between Kosovo and Albania, but do the two Albanian prime ministers share the same opinion regarding the problem between Kosovo and Serbia?
And which is Albania’s position towards the Open Balkan initiative? We already know Kosovo’s position as the country has flatly rejected the Open Balkan initiative and most recently we have come across the U.S. message, stating that such initiative cannot be implemented without involvement of the six countries in the region. Thank you!
PM Edi Rama: Albania’s opinion, my and this government’s opinion about Kosovo and Serbia is neither a secret, nor an unknown one. It is the same opinion I have already clearly expressed since day one, even right at the heart of Belgrade, and my opinion hasn’t changed. There is no dilemma about it.
As far as the Open Balkan initiative is concerned, of course we have adopted two approaches, positions and different opinions, but, on the other hand, you too and everyone else should get used to the fact that though we can’t think alike about various things, this shouldn’t hamper us from mobilizing all our forces to do the right things in best interest of our two countries in the future.
Therefore, I think these different opinions about the Open Balkans do not constitute any obstacle to the efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and, if I may, I would to refer to the double-headed eagle on a single body, but with one head looking at one side and the other head looking at the opposite direction. However, the eagle’s body stands upright, which means that the eagle is perfectly informed visually at 360 degrees. Therefore, the two-headed eagle doesn’t risk being caught off guard on one side or the other, as it visually controls both sides.
There is nothing to worry about this and being a double-headed eagle I think it is an added value during this period of our history. Once the day comes for the eagle to become a single-headed one, we risk biting our own self more than we are doing now, but we can’t afford it and this is not our goal. So, I am personally optimistic about the development of our relations, I am optimistic about the strategic perspective, but also about our jointly decided commitment, in view of this perspective regarding our relations. As for the Open Balkan initiative, this is an open ongoing debate taking place between me and Albin and I never expect all debates between me and Albin to be settled. If so, we would have to change our names and no longer be the ones who we are. It is the physiology of a relationship between people who can’t help but think and it is a problem for them to think alike about everything.
PM Albin Kurti: The meeting we had with Prime Minister Rama and our respective teams in Prishtina two months ago and today’s meeting clearly demonstrated that it is totally possible for Albania and Kosovo to discuss, plan and agree without even referring or mentioning the Republic of Kosovo’s northern neighbour. That’s why I think we should appreciate this aspect, since we are two independent and sovereign states, which are sensible about the region, both aim to join the European Union, but at the same time they don’t necessarily need to mention the northern neighbour of the Republic of Kosovo anytime they cooperate with one another. What we agreed upon at today’s meeting is the border liberalization for the citizens and strengthening the formal cooperation between institutions of both countries. The Albania-Kosovo border is being relativized for the citizens. In the meantime, on the other side, we are also boosting cooperation among officials and institutions, since we are the ones responsible for such cooperation, given that it is in the best interest of both our states and economies to improve the welfare of citizens on both sides of the border.
I am really confident that our bilateral cooperation will help Albania and Kosovo cut their trade deficit. This cooperation is expressed either through information sharing or experience exchanging, as well as through coordination of our common activities and duties. Kosovo and Albania are quickly opening up to each other and nothing else matters.
– You said that an agreement on free movement of citizens on both sides of the border has been signed, but an agreement on a single Albania-Kosovo market that would spur economic development of both countries has yet to be signed.
PM Edi Rama: Building a common market is a process, and not an action. It is a process comprising many actions. What does a common market mean? It means granting free movement of people, goods, capital and services and these agreements too, if we are to refer to the agreement on the customs procedures, it marks yet another step towards the single market. If we are to refer to the agreements we have signed and the existing ones already being implemented regarding a number of documents exporters and importers in both countries should obtain, this is yet another action. Which is the framework of the common market? The final framework of the common market is that one can move from point A to point B from any location in Albania and Kosovo and vice-versa. This is also the case with any country in the region and of course it would be worthy and helpful for every one of us once we join the EU. So, no matter whether you move from one country to another country, in formal and practical terms, one would not be obliged to obtain documents. I mean it would suffice for one to obtain the departure documents from a country so that he can travel to another country. We did the same regarding the agreements on the work and stay or residence permits, because the situation was totally absurd for so long now, since one had to go through a series of bureaucratic procedures before obtaining a residence permit or a family reunification permit both in Albania and Kosovo. All these documents are now abolished. All this eventually leads to the common framework with neither physical or bureaucratic borders hindering any interactions that take place through all institutions, through all private entities, between the latter and the first and so on and so forth. So, it is a multitude of acts and practically a part of the acts that we have done today serve the goal of creating a common totally integrated space. As far as Kosovo is concerned, it is all about an integrated space extending beyond the issue of the market, because Albania and Kosovo have a relation not necessarily an economic and social one alone, but a much deeper and more profound relations, because it is a relation of identity and a cultural relation and a series of other elements of cooperation have established in this aspect, which are not part of the broader framework, so to say, either regional or European one.
The children’s unified reading and spelling book we want to produce here in Albania next year, which coincides with the jubilee of Albania’s independence anniversary, was promptly welcomed by Kosovo authorities and it immediately became a Kosovo project too, because our relations go beyond the common market, which is an avoidable and irreplaceable necessity when it comes to the economic and social growth needs.
-The findings of a recent survey commissioned by the Euronews Albania suggest that 80% of Albanians support national unification. You Mr. Kurti affirmed in an interview that you would back the national unification in a peaceful referendum. What would you Mr. Rama vote for and do you think such a referendum can ever take place?
PM Edi Rama: Now, is this a question or a “provokacia” (provocation), because I don’t understand it? If you are asking me about the hypothesis of a peaceful referendum on Albania and Kosovo unification, I would breach the law on voting secrecy and openly vote in favour. In case you ask me if this will happen or not, since you are provoking me, I am provoking you too by saying, yes, this will happen. I don’t know when or how this would happen, but it will certainly happen someday, and I say, yes. I would tell those who can take this statement and raise an outcry over the alleged “Greater Albania” that this is just fortunetelling and fortune tellers are not prejudiced. Since you are asking me to foretell the fortune and if I was to foretell the fortune, I am doing so through my imagination, in this case, because I don’t read and interpret the cup’s coffee grounds, I say this will happen one day. But I don’t know when or how this is going to happen.
-Can fortunetelling happen?
PM Edi Rama: I included the fortunetelling thing for the translators and those who will immediately issue statements like: “They met in Elbasan, Balkans will be burned down and the world will act because Albanians are attacking us.” This is why I referred to fortunetelling, so that you can help me too, by saying “it was the fortune teller and not the politician or a responsible Prime Minister to issue such a statement.” Since I was provoked by Klan Kosovo TV, Albin was provoked by Albania’s Klan TV. I responded to provocation through provocation.
-The same question goes for Albin Kurti.
PM Edi Rama: You can’t ask two fortune-tellers simultaneously. You keep insisting on this. You asked me to read the cup’s coffee grounds and I did so. One cannot ask for an alternative opinion on the same coffee cup. Albin, if you wish to make a prediction, you can do so.
PM Albin Kurti: It sounds to me that the issue of unification of Albanians is surrounded more by incomprehension rather than misunderstanding. It is not something we are choosing or selecting, it is a collective intention that chooses or selects us. We can’t decide about this historic process and determine dates and ways.
-Although the prime ministers said that it is raining and this is an auspicious and bountiful harbinger, the two countries actually face an energy crisis and my question is what are the two countries doing to cope with this challenge and integration of both power systems? I have another somehow regional question for Mr. Rama, who pledged a day ago to develop a joint project so that the city of Prizren is transformed on the 150th anniversary of the Albanian League of Prizren.. However, the political realities in Kosovo have changed since then, the reality at local level has also changed, yet Prizren is still there. What will happen you’re your promise?
PM Edi Rama: As far as the rain is concerned – since you put emphasis on the energy crisis – I can say it is really bountiful, since we have been praying for weeks for rain to fall. In this respect, rain is really bountiful as the country is 100% dependant on hydropower for electricity generation. I wish rain will continue falling, but of course we can’t afford being always dependant on the rain and that’s why we are taking a series of measures and we are investing in projects to diversify electricity by building photovoltaic parks, we are investing in bringing liquefied gas through Vlora thermo power plant, due to become operational soon in collaboration with the United States government and the U.S. company, we are investing in building the Skavica hydropower plant and of course it is indispensable for us to strengthen cooperation with Kosovo in this aspect for two main reasons.
First of all, further deepening cooperation with Kosovo and unification of the energy market would allow us to exchange electricity with Kosovo.
Interconnection is a huge accomplishment and it is a reality by now. A constant interaction goes on between the relevant institutions tasked with production, distribution and power transmission and this is what future needs.
The other reason is that with us having to deal with a daunting challenge is terms of the new conditions due to be imposed on the countries relying on coal and fossil fuel for generating their electricity and the carbon tax that is looming large in all countries, including our countries, Albania enjoys a natural advantage thanks to its green energy and in this context we need to build now the synergy with Kosovo for the next ten years, so that Kosovo doesn’t face dramatic consequences due to the carbon tax, which is about to be imposed on all countries dependant on carbon for generating their electricity.
Thank you very much!
