Excerpts from the conversation between Prime Minister Edi Rama, former MEP Hannes Swoboda and guests at the Centre for Openness and Dialog at the Prime Minister’s Office:
Hannes Swoboda: It is a great pleasure for me to be back in Albania. I’m happy to be here, in these premises, which I have actually visited before with the other prime ministers that were here before Edi Rama. I see that now this space is a centre for openness and transparency, and it is an art centre at the same time.
I my presentation, I tried to focus both within and outside the EU, through the centre and the periphery. I don’t mean by this that some locations are better than others, but there is sometimes a sort of arrogance in the centre face to the periphery, both within the EU and beyond, and also in a broader European context.
There is a book by Thomas L. Friedman, one of the most renowned American journalists and authors, The World is Flat. The message that Mr Friedman wants to convey through this book, is that there are no obstacles for people and ideas. This is not true, because there are some obstacles, or some new limits or new fences that are replacing the previous ones. I think that one of the most important calls I have for you is that we should not get used to the new fences, we should not get used to the new boundaries and limits within the EU, because our goal is to remove these barriers, these borders, and give those countries that are seen as the periphery a chance to develop and join the centre.
The centre is made of the countries with a greater economic growth. The centre is the place where people coming from the periphery want to reach. The periphery is the place from where people tend to leave, except when there are some more sophisticated policies that keep people in the periphery. So, again we have this kind of flow from the periphery to the centre. We have this within the EU. We have a periphery in the Balkans, and we have also a kind of competition from abroad, if we look at the refugee crisis. It is important that these migratory flows in the EU create different societies. So migration is not just a quantitative element. Migration itself is something which is changing societies.
We must be aware of the fact that the centre cannot live in peace and stability if it faces new challenges that are not met in a constructive way by the periphery. So, whether people like it or not, whether EU leaders or presidents like it or not, these individuals should have the courage and the leadership to say “yes”, a supporting hand must be extended to Balkans countries in order for them to meet reforms – which are pretty obvious now in Albania, and Prime Minister Rama is the personification of this reform process – and we must support these countries so that they will get closer to the EU step by step.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Like always, the film insert that opened the discussion was quite adequate, but I want to say that in the case of Mr Hannes, it cannot show a very important dimension for us here in Albania, the dimension of a committed friend of Albania’s, a man who despite being for a relatively long period in the highest ranks of the policy of European Socialists, I must say that when it came to Albania and to the need to positively influence developments in Albania, he has always been very careful, very balanced and at times, in a friendly manner he has not spared his direct criticism to me.
I might have considered it exaggerated back then, but no I am grateful to Hannes because he has had a significant impact by being present in important moments of our political life, with his moral authority, his culture and generosity in welcoming the opinions of all parties, and as I said, by influencing me very positively. I didn’t have the occasion to tell him this, and I am taking the occasion to tell him it today, here in the prime minister’s building, where he is very much welcomed because, in addition to being a politician who has fought on the front lines, he is also very connected to culture and art. And today, from the height of his long experience in politics, but also because of the opportunities provided by his broad cultural horizon, he is one of the right people to be asked about Europe and the challenges of the EU, about the perspective of the countries that are within the EU, or of those who intend to become part of the EU. As we all heard in Mr Hannes’s presentation, all these have been listed with style and a sufficiently deep knowledge.
What I would add is that Mr Hannes has always been convinced of the necessity of speeding up the EU integration process of the Western Balkans. Given that today we are facing the common European challenge of the refugees flow from countries in conflict, and seeing on the other hand a huge shortage in the functioning of Europe as a whole, I just want to encourage Mr Hannes in this conversation, by bringing him closer to our Balkan periphery where the situation is such that when we talk about the Western Balkans, it is obvious that the word expansion is not the right one, because it is actually about complementation. If we consider how refugees used to enter the EU through Greece, leave the EU to go to Macedonia, and then head towards Serbia in order to enter the EU again through Croatia and move up north, we understand that this is an area which the EU does not have the luxury to leave out of its body, precisely for the same reasons brought up by those forces or individuals who preached against the annexation of the Balkan for increased security and order within Europe.
If until yesterday, until 5 years or more ago, it was us, it was this region that obviously needed the EU, whereas the need of the EU was not obvious – today it is evident that the need is mutual, and this is primarily for security reasons.
The refugee crisis has revealed what the EU has always been. It is actually a more complete picture of what Mr Hannes and others have warned for the EU, if the EU continues to hesitate and if member states continue to be reluctant to complete the project. The dilemma here is very clear, some say that “Europe must dissolved for it is not working.” I believe that actually the project should be completed because it is very dysfunctional the way it is. The completion of the project runs against the tide proposed by extremist anti-European forces, which are taking advantage of this moment of weaknesses to stand against foreign workers, against Muslims, and against all sorts of enemies they discover with the purpose of inducing divisions and the abandonment of the EU project.
Hannes Swoboda: I think that countries in the region should support each other. I think that what you did with Prime Minister Vucic was a very big step forward. There are problems, however, by looking at the problems we can look to the future. Something I’ve said before is that the region has a lot of history, therefore we have to create a future while supporting each other, and by this I mean also by not blocking each other. It is clear that every problem needs to be addressed, but for this we don’t have to block each other because, in order to move forward, countries in the region should support each other. This is very important.
We need to make reforms to attract investments. Most of you here are very young and do not know that I’ve been here for the first time in the 90s, immediately after the changes. Tirana is completely different today, thanks also to its former mayor Edi Rama and many other Albanians who did a lot to change the city and to change the country. It is not yet at the end of its journey, but we must tell this. I know that many people still do not know the Balkan countries; they have no idea what is happening there, and how the transformation processes are going on.
Do not forget to bring the region closer to the European Union. This is an important element, and if you do not this for them, do it for yourself in order to prevent crises. I think there are many steps to be takenn in order to follow this path, but it is very important to have leaders such as Edi Rama who are respected, who are well known in Berlin, Washington, who could speak for the region, not only for themselves, but also for the region so that it can move forward. I think that negotiations should continue. I would like them to be more open and transparent, and not have only this kind of conditionality for each chapter. I think that countries in the region must support each other and attract investments in the country, in order to create jobs for younger generations. I see the digitization you have done here in terms of the government activity, and this should be a good example because this region is not only rich in resources, but it is rich in the minds of young people, especially in the way economy is growing.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: It is absolutely true that due to historical reasons, we have totally neglected or have prevented for a long time the very big potential of economic and social development of regional cooperation. Actually, we have entered the Berlin process thanks to Chancellor Merkel who undertook this very visionary initiative to gather around a table all the Balkan countries leaders. We have advanced a proposal in this process, in which we believe and for which we are working because the process has had first of all a very important political element. For the first time in history the designers of these countries are sitting around the same table, those who until yesterday, if they happened to be facing each other, would be in conflict about which were the limits that should not be crossed. We have talked since the beginning about the infrastructure project, we have made an agenda of the priorities in cooperation with the European Union. We have talked about financing several major arteries, starting from the famous corridor which we call the “Blue Corridor”, and which in the official document is called the Blue Highway, which connects and closes the tourist ring of the Mediterranean by connecting the south of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia, and with an offshoot Albania with Greece as well. We have also talked about the other road, the Durres-Pristina-Nish-Belgrade, and about some other projects in the energy sector. But we should not have any illusions, I have said this since the first day as I have always said it here, all these are projects that will take their time. This is about a whole finance package that needs to be guaranteed. We are working closely with the World Bank on both sides, both with the German side that is managing the process, and with our side here in the region in order to see how we can have loans guaranteed not from the countries of the region, but by other instruments, financial bodies. But what we can do and must do, is go beyond CEFTA and remove all non-tariff barriers that hinder the exchange of free economic trade and movement within the region, and turn the region into an oasis that functions as if we were fully integrated into the EU, by developing in parallel with the individual path of integration a common path that will provide the region with much more growth capacity. A very simple example is cooperation with Kosovo. We have begun this process. We have made a number of significant steps that have brought a more significant growth of trade exchanges. Exports from Albania to Kosovo increased 235% in the past year, with a similar figure of exports from Kosovo to Albania, although we still have issues to resolve. Meanwhile, it is evident what the entire region would benefit, if we did such a thing. Our proposal has been welcomed by others. We are working closely with World Bank experts in the region to have this document be part of the discussions at the next meeting in Paris.
– What is the role of the youth face to the EU Challenges?
Hannes Swoboda: You are young, and you should see or understand that your future is guaranteed only if it is a shared future. It is very important that we have the open mentality that you have as young people. First of all I think you need to work, you need a good qualification in order to look at Europe as an open market. The idea is having some people go from Albania to Austria, and some others from Austria who come and work here. We should have exchanges. Obviously the aim should be that of giving every young people a chance in Albania and a reasonable salary, but they must have of course the right qualification. I can see that many institutions in this country are going in this direction. Of course, on the other hand you must teach politicians, if I might say so, traditional politicians who think differently. Today you have the chance to give a message to politicians. I think these should be serious messages, messages for your aspirations. It is you who must challenge politicians and tell them, this is our aspiration for Europe, and not just listen to us.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Young people must find out by themselves how to answer this question. Meanwhile, I would say that in my view the abandonment of political activism by the young people is a step that goes in the opposite direction to the common interest to build a space where we have more rights, more opportunities, an increased listening capacity, etc.
The European Union itself is a political project. The very problems it deals with are problems that can be solved through politics, not through abandonment. There is no greater mistake than thinking, I’m not dealing with politics so I’m safe. You’re not safe. Politics deals with you regularly. The fewer the people dealing with politics, the greater the risk of suffering the consequences of wrong decision-making. I believe that political activism is very important not to become a politician or an MP, but to be an active part of a process that involves a large number of your generation, the voice of which the more is heard the lesser is the possibility that they can be treated disrespectfully.
On the other hand, I think and I believe it very seriously that we need to do more to give young people opportunities to understand much more about Europe. There is an open and healthy debate I think, even though my impression is based on a big misunderstanding. The idea to give young people the chance to get to know religions since they are in school. If you heard with attention when Mr Hannes spoke about divisions within the Muslim world, and about a part of that world which is the cradle where the extremism is bred and which generates violent extremists – where do you think people will learn something about it? Where are young people going to learn that there are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world? Do you know how many of them are actively against the values we defend? 100 thousand. 0.5% of the Muslim world. So, how can you demonize a whole culture? How can you demonize an entire world, an entire civilization? It can be demonized by taking advantage of ignorance and fear. By making diabolical connections that have immediate manipulative effects on the crowds, and by saying: “Did you see the massacre in Paris? The killers were Muslims.” What does this mean? Killers are killers despite their religious belonging. And then they combine this with the anti-Islam rhetoric, against Muslims, and so that while they try to get more votes and increase political support, society is split in two. The question is: how come that this approach is contrary to everything that the democratic European civilization has tried in order to be built, and contrary to everything that our forefathers thought of when they founded the EU, and also contrary to everything we are in order to succeed? The answer is the same: ignorance and fear. And this ignorance and fear are due to the gap in the European education system. Young people in France, in Germany and in Britain are today as much unprotected as any young people anywhere else, due to manipulation of religions.
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“The periphery challenges the centre” is a presentation brought in the Centre for Openness and Dialogue in the Prime Ministry by the politician Hannes Swoboda.
In an open conversation with journalists, politicians, diplomats, professors and students, Dr Hannes Swoboda, together with Prime Minister Edi Rama, discussed the latest developments in the Balkans and Europe. The position of the Balkans on the international arena, the critical phase that Europe is going through today, and the currents that circulate in the EU, were some of the topics discussed by Dr Swoboda.
The presentation focused on the relationship between the centre and periphery in the social and economic context, as well as on the emergence of the “ethnic” risk, which is overlapping the real problematic situations that Europe is going through today. The day-to-day developments in the Western Balkans, and the impact today’s decisions might have on Europe in the future were also discussed during this meeting.
An expert of the political developments in Albania during his 18-year office as MEP, Dr Hannes Swoboda provided an interesting perspective on the role Albania is playing in the region in the current global situation.
Dr Hannes Swoboda was a member of the European Parliament from 1996 to 2014. He is the first Austrian Euro parliamentarian to be elected after his country joined the EU.
