Rama: Failed EU, we were ready

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has criticised the European Union for failing to open membership negotiations, a day after the EU member states' decision not to set the date for the First Intergovernmental Conference for the two countries, due to Bulgaria's veto.

At the North Macedonia Economic Forum, Rama said it is the only regret she has, as they are not ready to accept into the EU.

The European Union wanted, not Albania or Northern Macedonia. We are an important economic partner with Northern Macedonia. We have not failed, they have failed. It's their house, we want to enter this house, so we don't decide. We are in Europe, surrounded by European borders. The only regret I have is that it would be better to be told that; we love you within the family, but there are certain rules, which are not yet ready, because there's a bit of a strange situation, because citizens in Albania trust these European officials, and they think it's the internal policy problem”, Rama said.

Despite Jo's for the First Intergovernmental Conference, Rama speaks optimisticly and says his concern is Albania's progress.

It's not the first time they fail in their non-relation of opportunity for the First Conference. It's kind of like a wedding thing, where you did everything right, and in the end the bride didn't show up. We'll keep moving forward, do our job. We were ready before. The fact that some countries previously declared that Albania is not ready does not mean that Albania was not ready, but this relates to domestic issues. So we weren't ready when Holland had the election issue. I'm worried we make progress, not for that. We are not doing this, as some state men in Brussels tell us we have to move on. I am not a pessimist at all, even though they may fail several times”, Prime Minister Rama said.