Joint press conference of Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Netherlands:
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte: First of all, I would like to welcome Prime Minister Edi Rama. We are great friends for many years now and it is a pleasure to have him here in The Hague with us on his 58th birthday anniversary. So let me wish him a happy birthday.
Of course it has been only a short time since we met at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brussels, which went so, so. The EU positively reaffirmed its commitment to the region, but of course Edi Rama’s comments afterwards and I think he was really right as it was not a successful meeting and we need to do a lot more.
Meanwhile, we know that the Western Balkan countries, including Albania, are working hard to become European Union members and Albania enjoys the Netherlands’s full support. Of course, the problem here lies with North Macedonia, but thanks to French efforts, a new moment has been recorded in the membership process that certainly affects Albania as well, because both, at least politically, are interrelated.
We support the French proposal to remove all the obstacles currently still blocking North Macedonia, as well as Albania, in their EU accession process and the proposal addresses all remaining concerns. The last thing we know is that the government is taking a positive approach to the proposal and we strongly hope that the compromise will see broad support in parliament.
We will also discuss Ukraine today. The Netherlands and Albania are united in their support for Ukraine. Of course, we will work together in other areas as well. The two countries also have trade exchange, but on a limited level yet.
As far as this issue is concerned, let me tell you that the cooperation between our two countries is excellent, the friendship between the two of us is extraordinary and today will be an opportunity to further build this friendship and continue our cooperation in the future.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Thank you very much. Being here is a real gift and I am looking forward to dining with Mark for my birthday anniversary. He is much younger, but he is more experienced and he is wiser.
I would also like to go further and focus on our bilateral cooperation and express the real, non-formal, non-diplomatic gratitude to the Netherlands, to the Dutch government, for the combination of their strict attitude which, in fact, was irritating for a while until we understood what it was about. With their real support on the ground, through a program called “Matra”, which has made the difference in advancing our justice reform and which has practically strengthened our relationship, as well because at the end of the day, we realized that the Netherlands was serious about its criticism, but the Netherlands also understood that we were serious about delivering on our obligations.
The Netherlands already ranks among the biggest investors in Albania. Shell corporation is operating in our country and hopefully we’re looking forward to some good news early next year thanks to some pretty intense exploration that Shell is conducting in our country.
In the meantime, we look forward to materializing and continuing the cooperation between Tirana Airport and Schiphol airport, just as we are seeing and looking forward to the development of a new project of the new cargo, commercial and military port of Albania, which is designed by Royal Haskoning, one of the Dutch leading engineering firms.
In a way, Mark taught me that you can love Europe, but you have to be prepared because it is a tough love.
