Prime Minister Edi Rama is in Prague, at the GLOBSEC 2024 security forum.
While Prime Minister Rama was talking about how the European Union should behave with countries that are in the process of membership, the moderator of the panel, journalist Ali Aslan, reminded him that the time was up and he should end the discussion.
Here the head of the government, not without irony, addressed the journalist saying that if a Balkan is invited to discuss, the time should be extended.
Rama: Europe is no longer young, it is the oldest in the world. It’s not as rich as it used to be. There are parts of EU regions where GDP is decreasing. Europeans are not expected to have many children, while others do. The work arm is needed. Europe needs more immigrants than it has today, but in an orderly manner. TikTok in China is bright, shining. Everyone who enters there feels like they are living in heaven. While TikTok in Europe is hell. Europe is liberalizing the media and freedom of speech, and I am very afraid that Europe will end up in a terrible position if it does not stand as one and speak with one voice. How is the war in Ukraine won when one side is fully engaged, while the other side is told “we’re giving you this plane, but you have to fly to that part over there”. Then they are told “you must also fight corruption”.
Journalist Ali Aslan: I’m sure this panel alone could be a second day of GLOBSEC…
Rama: I have to say the same thing I always say, if you invite people from the Balkans, you have to extend the time. If you want a memo, bring the Nordics, sit for 5 minutes, give them a memo and go back to the ice. When we come, we sit down, we want to discuss, have fun. Bring the Turkish coffee, let’s see the future in the cup.
Aslan: Prime Minister…
Rama: You are very Germanized my friend.
Aslan: You don’t think that’s wrong.
Rama: Being too Germanized isn’t wrong? It is very wrong.
Aslan: I don’t think it’s wrong. It’s time to talk about football. I think it is close to home that whenever you have Prime Minister Rama on stage, we always have a very pleasant time. It is a perfect combination of content and entertainment. Believe it or not, I had even more questions.
Rama: Where are you going, what are you going to do?
Aslan: I’m here, this is my way of telling you that the session is ending. It is my simple, diplomatic way of closing this session.
