Prime Minister Edi Rama, among other things, said during his speech at the National Assembly of the Socialist Party that he commented on accusations against the government over corruption and lack of media freedom, linking these developments to Albania’s European integration process.
Rama said it could not be claimed at the same time that Albania is heading toward a bottomless abyss and that it is entering the final phase of the history of membership in the European Union.
According to him, the country’s European perspective is based on economic development and the creation and support of independent judicial institutions.
The head of government also spoke about media freedom, declaring that, according to the data he cited, 60% of media content is against the government, 30% is neutral and 10% supports it.
“The sun cannot be covered with a sieve. In this phrase: Albania’s Accession Treaty.
It cannot be true at the same time that Albania is falling into a bottomless abyss and that Albania is entering the final page of the history of EU membership. The two do not go together.
Entry into that page is not achieved by falling into an abyss, but by moving from an economy that today reaches the ceiling of 30 billion euros. Entry into that page is not achieved by sinking into corruption, but by creating and unconditionally supporting independent judicial bodies.
I have said it and I say it, unlike what they put out. Albanians are smart enough to understand it. Here is the guarantee of the inviolability of judicial independence. That is why Albania has entered that page.
And entry into that page is not achieved by silencing the government’s critics. This country, not today but for years, is statistically a country that produces every day, across all its media channels, 60% content against the government, 30% neutral content and 10% pro-government.
All these data and many others. They dared to draw a parallel between Belgrade and Tirana, but they are all reversed. This is a country where the freedom of anyone positioned against us is such that you will not find it in any other country.
Choirs like those of last night that lined up screen after screen to glorify violence. On the screens of France, Italy and Germany there is no chance of finding spokespeople of violence representing the media.
We will have time during a national debate to discuss all of it. The first lesson of this historic achievement is that a country with problems and a country without perspective are two completely different things.”