Rama has this message for the EU, declared war on drug traffickers ( Photo)

Despite various international reports, as well as reports by foreign media, Rama again stood up to his version, coming against all, promising also that the end of 2017 will be the end of the cannabis case, but besides his statements, new drug tanks are frequently seized and more frequently. But in the writing published in the Financial Times media, Rama acknowledges that “as it mentions Albania, some people immediately think of drugs and crime”.

In the end Rama writes that he has sent a letter to all European Union member states, where he claims he has asked Albanians living there to investigate. On Friday I sent a letter to leaders of the 28 member states of the European Union seeking their support in our battle with drug barons. We know that some live and thrive in your country as well, taking advantage of illegal drugs, trafficking of people and other illegal activities, Rama's letter sent to EU countries said.

Rama Editor:

I'm aware that if you mention Albania, some people immediately think about drugs and crime. I'm also aware that erasing such an image, which is deeply unjust to a country with a largely peaceful population and respecting the law, takes time, above all, action.
Last week we learned that our action is reaping fruit. We owe Italian financial police, Guardia di Finanza, and the sophisticated surveillance it conducts from the air to uncover cannabis parcels for Albanian police forces. Statistics leave no room for doubt. A year ago, they identified 2, 086 surfaces planted throughout Albania on their flights. This year, even after extended flights of increased monitoring, their number was only 88. Now, they've all been destroyed by our police. This is real progress. Tagged for years as the European capital of cannabis, Albania had its cup filled, and we began to react.
For a quarter of a century, cannabis has destroyed the lives of Albanians, corrupted local officials has poisoned national politics, while enriching bandits. Last year at this time, international media died from titles for record areas planted by cannabis in Albania. Perhaps because journalists withdraw from half the cup, more than enough, true history never succeeded in seeing the light of publication. The real story was that record areas of cannabis were finally being identified and destroyed.
This is not the end of history at all. Those who were enriched with drug cultivation must pay for their crimes. We've started the second phase of the special operation against them and their assets. We're cleaning up the judicial system, properly verifying the figure of judges, who have long been run by criminals and their money. However, these criminals do not operate only in Albania. They are linked and related to organised crime in cannabis consumption countries, and the governments of these countries should also bear part of the responsibility to bring them to justice. We in Albania have done everything we could to root out a considerable source of the problem last year, but consumption countries should investigate with all energy criminals and freeze the income that comes from their crimes. In the coming weeks and months, we will share what we know and the evidence we have against them with police forces and financial regulators across Europe. They're dangerous people. My government considers them a threat to national security. So should your governments. Perhaps many of them live elsewhere in Europe claiming to be legitimate merchants, but don't make mistakes, they are criminals whose international businesses enslave people everywhere.
They won't think twice about using their wealth to buy influence. They will receive seemingly respected legal studios and accounting and lobby agencies. Through these mediators, they will find ways to turn these charges against themselves, presenting themselves as innocent victims of attacks coming from rivals in business or worse, from political opponents specifically, from me and my government. We've already seen it happen. Reform of our justice system and re-evaluating judges and prosecutors for corruption and inadequacy the key conditions imposed by the European Union before entering formal membership negotiations almost deviated earlier this year. Selfish interest in reform brought unrest to the streets and, at times, seemed determined to put our new democracy at risk. It is noteworthy that for 20 years the drug barons were able to keep the area around the Albanian village of Lazarati safe haven of cannabis production and processing, a no-pass zone for police and other government authorities. So great was the power of the drug trade that a predecessor of my prime minister acknowledged that failure to intervene in the area was a “steadfast political decision”. My government overturned this policy in 2014, and a major police operation closed Lazarati. Police destroyed a “product” that represented about a quarter of the cannabis seized throughout Albania during that year. This was the beginning of our fight against the bandits.
We now have to take another important step. On Friday, I sent a letter to leaders of the 28 European Union member states seeking their support in our battle with drug lords. We know that some live and thrive in your country, taking advantage of illicit drugs, prostitution, trafficking in human beings and other illegal activities”, is written in my letter. We ask for your help, in return, we offer ours, to capture these people and to bring them to justice”. I hope that all citizens of EU countries will call on their governments to stand by us. This is a battle for all to win.

Rama's letter sent to EU officials:

Excellent.

The European Union will soon set a deadline for negotiations on my government for Albania's accession. This is a dream of Albanians, as all political schemes over the past two decades in the country have gone towards EU membership. As prime minister, it is my duty to tell of the steps followed by Albania in order to become a member of the large European family. As you may know, the European Union granted Albania candidate status in 2014. Last year, the European Commission set five key conditions that could have EU accession talks. These were administrative reforms, increased human rights protection, progress in fighting corruption, reform of the judiciary and powerful measures against organised crime. My government, which had only one month of work at the time, has understood EU priorities as of extraordinary importance and was willing to meet the conditions set. We were given a responsibility and decided to act. A year ago, the European Commission recommended opening negotiations for Albania by meeting key priorities and meeting the significant and tangible reform progress in justice, in particular the assessment of judges and prosecutors on issues they have tried. The country's democratic action company has been the major priorities of my government, despite the obstacles that have emerged. But despite the obstacles we had, given the outcome of the elections a year ago, I can say that most of the citizens were with us and also agreed with the reforms we have undertaken. We've taken our responsibility now to take a further step. In recent days, my government has adopted ambitious plans to fight organised crime. We've put in reports, where it says that the people who are looking should be found and brought to justice, believing that our justice system will do the job it belongs to and will lead the people on the run to prison. We will also seize the assets of people who have illegally placed money. The criminal culture that has been planted by some Albanians is ending. We are in the process of building a country, to regulate the infrastructure, to enforce the law, to eliminate the plague of criminal assets and not to leave a country with wounds in future generations. But Albanians have not suffered only from bosses who have had property from crime, which has infected our nation. We know that bosses are operating in your country, where drug lords, people who receive money from prostitution, trafficking in human beings, and other activities that are illegal. We want to be with you in this <x0 war> ”, to send people who do dirty work to justice. Albanians understand well how appropriate international punishments are. After the fall of the dictatorship, has been planted in Albania hashish and drugs, and this business brought quick and easy profits. They took advantage of the total chaos that existed. Later, police, prosecutors and judges were easily bought. There were political protections for people who held high government positions. Gang leaders enjoyed local privileges and sympathy. My government came to power in September 2013, committed to ending this lawlessness. In June 2014, we ordered a major anti-drug operation to the south of the country in Lazarzat, which had become an area where the State Police did not move and was used by the previous government. We have been engaged in this battle since then, with the help of Italy's financial police, Guardia di Finanza and the EU. We've had results. Last week, Italian General Stefano Screpant of Guardia Di Finanza discovered an amazing change. Last year, the Guardia Air Over Albania reported 2086 suspected cannabis plantations throughout Albania. The information led to many arrests and destruction of crops. As a result, this year's survey revealed only 88 suspected plantations, or 150 times less compared to last year. In other words, Albania is no longer the capital of cannabis in Europe, as some media in Tirana have written. The cannabis industry is dying. We're aiming to completely stop planting hashish by the end of the year. That's a lot to do. Cannabis production has fostered the development of black trade, especially abroad, international sources have reported. We are committed to working with all our international partners to eliminate smuggling with goods, too. I want to stress that many things have been done since Albania emerged from the harsh communist regime and we are on a good track already. We owe much to the EU for technical and economic assistance. But we owe the EU, as the European Union is inviting us to be part of its family, and we want to meet reforms. We are working to be a nation equal to the nations of Europe, to share our values with the European family, and to advance to democracy. Citizens in our communications have often told us that this is what they want. It's my government that's in charge of fulfilling the reforms. We hope that you will support us on the road to progress, that Albania will one day be part of the European Union.

Warmly, Edi Rama

Recipient: H.E. Edouard Philippe
Prime Minister of France
Paris, France