Prime Minister Edi Rama has responded to the stricter language uttered by the EU and even EU Ambassador Romana Vlahutin about the possible opening of the accession negotiations with Albania. Now that Prime Minister Rama has won a comfortable majority in Parliament to implement key reforms, the EU is expecting him to deliver.
The Prime Minister, however, responded to these demands with a threat, namely that he would look for “other alternatives,” should the EU not open accession negotiations soon, within 2017.
In an interview with France24, Prime Minister Rama stated:
We expect that the talks with the EU begin this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t begin, not because we didn’t do our job but because you cannot really count on the EU as regards its engagement with countries such as Albania. […]
The EU is our inspiration, but if the EU will withdraw from our dream, for sure we will look for other alternatives.
In he past, Prime Minister Rama has used the same scare tactic against the EU for example by threatening to unite with Kosovo should the EU “withdraw” from its commitment to Albanian EU membership.
