TIRANA, October 15 – “We had a bad experience with the EU. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out, we were left aside. We ran to find vaccines. So we were forgotten and if we didn’t have the support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we wouldn’t have vaccinated anyone for a long time.”
The above was the long-standing anger of Prime Minister Edi Rama towards the EU when Albania was isolated with no place to get any anti-Covid vaccines but it was Turkey and after it China which provided medical supplies.
“It was a scary moment when we saw a grave situation that the EU did not help us.. And here we are in the case of energy, which is not the same as the pandemic but is similar,” Rama said on Saturday in his address in Berlin, Germany, where the Congress of European Socialist Parties is being held (October 14-15).
Rama wished that the newly created European Politically Community could find a solution to support the member countries to face the big blow without being left out.
Rama also touched upon the departure of young Albanian people abroad, noting that the European Union had double standards.
“There are things that are really terrible, since we are not rich but on the one hand we are seeing our young people leave because they are not being given the opportunity to have the same access as the European higher education system. But on the other hand we see that those who have qualified in Albania are asked to be taken from rich countries.”
He asked for balance and solidarity as Albania must get something in return. This is the market, but this must have a balance in some form, a solidarity
“We help the Germans if they no longer have young people to work as nurses or doctors, but we must also be helped, It cannot function only in one- way traffic,” said Rama.
At the end of his speech, the head of government once again drew attention to Iran’s cyber attack on Albania. In his view, that attack wanted the complete destruction of the online system in Albania. /Argumentum.al
