Rama called on neighboring countries to abandon ‘old Balkan policy’

At the EU-Western Balkans conference in Tirana, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the European Union was more ready for expansion than before and that countries in the region must move forward with the new growth plan, telling the leaders of countries in the region not to waste time.

According to him, cooperation between the Western Balkan countries is a fundamental condition for EU membership, which is not only a principle of good conduct, but also a criterion for assessing the maturity of the countries through a new plan of growth.

– In the new growth plan it is clear that we must take the necessary steps to move forward, otherwise we will not manage to sit at the EU table. Our economies cannot prosper by preventing free movement. Either we create peace to work for our well-being, or the opposite prevents us from doing so. The EU is now more willing to help us become part of it. We must not lose this opportunity, Rama said.

He also focused on the common market, expressing his ambition to start implementing it in June this year.

-If we meet all the Common Payment Area criteria, we will reduce fees to bring those living abroad closer together. With this we can save around half a billion euros. According to the experience of “Open Balkans”, this is not an easy task. If we manage to include our 500 municipalities in the Internet of Public Places program, which is a new twin of the EU, we can take the region to a whole new level, Rama believed.

The head of the Albanian government called on the Western Balkan countries “to abandon the old Balkan policy” in this process.