Honorable Parliament of Albania!

Honorable friends and guests!

Allow me at the outset, as the first speaker of this new legislature, at this decisive stage of Albania’s European path, to extend my best wishes to the new Speaker of Parliament, Niko Peleshi, wishing him success in his role, Niko Peleshi. Congratulations and success!

I am not here today to perform a mere formality of seeking a vote of confidence for the new government, backed by the arithmetic of an extraordinary majority in this chamber. And I want to say directly to this majority: not one mandate, but all the political years would not suffice to repay the extraordinary trust that the Albanian people have granted us this time. Eighty-three seats, or more than 50% of voters’ support, represent the weight of an immense debt for this fourth consecutive mandate. It is a debt we must assume every single day, not with words, but with a new line of conduct, with a renewed self-critical approach, with ideas and innovations across all fields, with patience, with will, with dedication, and with fresh energy at every step to ensure the success of this mandate.

To the opposition, I say only this: it is not our concern what you do or say outside this chamber. But here, within this chamber and out of respect for your voters, you will have all our attention and as much time as you wish, provided you avoid the use of your bodies, your hands, your feet as arguments, and noise or table-banging as an alternative. Otherwise, our presence here will no longer than a voting process. Keep that in mind!

This new mandate is our great state exam. Its duration coincides with the ambitious national plan to seat Albania at the table of the united European family. Our new governing program is the exam notebook of solutions, but the success of this historic exam will depend entirely on each of us and on our joint persistence in turning solutions from the program’s pages into the reality of Albania and the lives of Albanians.

Albania 2030 in the EU is the headline of this mandate. European Albania is the guiding compass of every page of our program and the metronome of every reform we will undertake.

As usual, just as on the previous three occasions in a session like this, I will not read out the entire program, which you all have at your disposal, nor will I take up Parliament’s time or each minister’s role by addressing in detail all the areas that ministers themselves will present one by one.

Therefore, most of this address will focus on innovation and artificial intelligence, as two strategic engines of our battles for Albania 2030.

The rule of law is the foundation of membership in the united European family. The path is irreversible. Consolidating the independence of the judiciary is essential. The new Criminal Code, the new Code of Criminal Procedure, and the new Civil Code are under way, as the cornerstones of a modern legal framework aligned with the highest European standards.

At the same time, the digital revolution will expand further into the field of justice and law enforcement, to strengthen efficiency, transparency, and accountability of democratic institutions on the one hand, and the freedoms and rights of individuals on the other.

Albania is the only country in the region successfully using artificial intelligence to accelerate alignment with EU legislation. Deploying artificial intelligence in the service of good governance, anti-corruption, and accelerated socio-economic progress will be a shared priority of all ministries and agencies in the country.

Meanwhile, Diella, the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, will play a decisive role in accelerating this process. She will be supported by an accelerator named AI 4 – Albanian Innovation 4, which will have full freedom to operate with a new role inside the administration: powerful in action, breaking down bureaucratic barriers, mandating the adoption of AI at every step and in every field.

The AI 4 accelerator will unite the best Albanian talents within the country, while also attracting Albanians from the diaspora and foreign experts willing to join Diella’s constellation. It will concentrate a critical mass of talent on Albania’s toughest problems—challenges that usually do not inspire startups but are crucial to national progress. It will build companies capable of creating significant value for Albania and for the state as shareholder, while motivating more Albanians to launch their own ventures, thus generating a self-sustaining cycle of innovation.

Through her AI 4 accelerator, Diella will position Albania as a country of great ambition in governance through digitalization and artificial intelligence. She will combine the weight of the state with the agility of startups, aligning public service with innovative enterprises, and transforming institutions into development platforms for artificial intelligence.

I regret the opposition expressed towards Diella as a member of the new Cabinet, and the serious misunderstandings surrounding her role and the expectations from her. Given that Diella is integrated into the President’s decree as part of my responsibility, and that my speech time is the only moment when she can address Parliament, I therefore request the service of Parliament to grant the floor to Diella before I continue with the presentation of the government’s program.