Prime Minister Edi Rama, responding to citizen questions on social media, emphasized the importance of the May 11 vote for Albania’s EU integration, urging voters to set aside political affiliations.
“It’s very simple, because EU accession is a very concrete process today, and for the first time since we emerged from the darkness of communism, there is complete alignment between our desire to join the EU and their desire to take us in,” Rama said.
He highlighted that Albania is in a window of opportunity, with the EU door open, and a working calendar aiming for negotiation completion by the end of 2027.
“Negotiations involve discussions on all aspects of state organization, across all sectors, where we must adapt the entire EU legislative and regulatory framework. It’s about a quarter of a million pages, work on which began years ago, but much remains to be translated, adapted, and approved. It’s also about guaranteeing a positive process and performance,” Rama explained.
Rama stressed the EU’s objective monitoring of progress, irrespective of Albanian political affiliations.
“The EU does not participate in Albanian elections, it has no Albanian party affiliation. The EU has a mechanism to monitor progress in a country aspiring to EU membership, and that mechanism, as I said, knows nothing of political affiliations or sympathies. It’s a cold, icy mechanism that looks at work and results. Based on work and results, this mechanism says the complete opposite of what you, Bledi, and others like you say, who start from other premises. It means that Albania is making significant strides in transforming its state organization and is becoming a state ready for EU membership,” Rama asserted.
He underscored the May 11 vote’s national importance, warning against any setbacks that could jeopardize the negotiation process.
“Our government may have many flaws, may have made many mistakes, but no one else, either in front, around, or behind us, can do what we can do at this moment in history, and any kind of hesitation on May 11 would be fatal for the country,” Rama concluded.
