Prime Minister Edi Rama is in Hungary, on a one-day official visit, where he was welcomed by his counterpart, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban.
The two prime ministers had a meeting between them, which was followed by a joint press conference.
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The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán: Good day everyone!
Ladies and gentlemen, as usual, this time too I had the opportunity to have an excellent discussion with the Prime Minister of Albania and it is really a pleasure to have him here for a visit together with his delegation. This is also a very good opportunity for all of us not only to discuss the specific situation, but also in general the future of European policies as well as the situation in the Western Balkans.
We actually had really deep conversations and discussions for which I am totally grateful to him. It is always really a pleasure when we actually have guests who are political artists because they bring us new perspectives and this always helps us in the exchange of ideas. So we had a great privilege that our guest does not come with that tradition of Hungarian politicians, so he is not a lawyer or an economist as is the case with us in Hungary, but with his knowledge we have also discussed Hungarian politics and it is really a pleasure and I wish thank him.
Now we have the opposite situation, I did not ask for his help because we now have the opportunity to have our Albanian friends here, because the countries of the Western Balkans have waited 15 years on average to become part of the European Union, while Albania has waited since 2019 and I actually spoke about this even when I was in Strasbourg because I think that the best cure for this whole situation and I said this in Strasbourg is for the European Union to welcome the countries of the Western Balkans into the family own because that way the blood will circulate better in us, in the European family.
In fact, Albania has done a wonderful job during the talks with the EU in a process that was based on merit, in the true sense of the word. Albania should be a part of the European Union and it should be a part even now, but unfortunately we are facing political obstacles and it is very difficult to overcome these problems, maybe even this type of approach. However, I can tell you that we have succeeded because next week in Luxembourg we will actually have the intergovernmental conference between the EU and Albania and the first group chapter will be opened and for this I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Rama and Albania and we are very proud that this moment comes in this period when Hungary also has the Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Maybe you remember that the last time we had such discussions was actually when we were in the Presidency and Croatia became a member country of the EU and since then there have been no other EU memberships, but here we have made it possible again.
Ladies and gentlemen, Hungary, in the spirit of a responsible policy of good neighborliness, has helped the European Union by also providing financial support to the countries of the Western Balkans. So you don’t have to wait for membership to take advantage of this because there is an instrument already in place that benefits the countries of the Western Balkans. We have also discussed our bilateral cooperation.
That’s all from my side as far as the issues related to the European Union are concerned.
Regarding our bilateral relationship, Albania is not only a friendly country, but also very important for us because it plays a very important role in various sectors and this is a very big thing. We look at this not only because we want Hungarian firms to be successful, but we want more than that. We want Hungarian firms, Hungarian companies to have success in Albania and a good reputation, and I can tell you that our companies, for example, are doing very well in the telecommunications market as well. We also have a very big project with Albania. Albania and Egypt will be connected, that is, Europe and Egypt will be connected through a telecommunications network.
Also, we have connected about 50 cities with Wizz Air and OTP has also won the award as the best digital bank in Albania. We also have the fact that the Budapest water supply already plays a very good role with its counterpart in Tirana and we agreed with the prime minister that we will continue our bilateral cooperation and of course we are more open for Albanian businessmen to become part of our economy and we want to increase our role in the modernization of Albania’s economy.
I am very grateful to you, Prime Minister, and now I want to pass the floor to the Prime Minister of Albania, the honorable Edi Rama. Thank you!
Prime Minister Edi Rama: First, I have to say that I am really very, very honored for the way the Prime Minister, my friend, introduced me. I don’t know if it’s deserved, but these words from him really mean a lot to me.
We all know that Viktor Orbán is probably the easiest to blame for everything that happens in the world, but for me he is one of the nicest people to talk to about different things that are happening in the world, but also for history as an instrument from which we must learn to analyze and judge the present, but also to prepare for the future.
It is therefore a pleasure to be here and I am pleased to express my deep gratitude from the heart for what the presidency of Hungary, i.e. the Presidency of the Council of the EU, has done for us, encouraging, coordinating and making possible since in a few days, we will have the opportunity to open a large part of the negotiations with the European Union, i.e. a whole group of chapters, and in this way, we will enter a phase of integration which is really advanced, advanced .
Of course, it is the place and moment to thank someone else who is not part of the Hungarian government, but who is part of the European government, Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner who has accompanied us for 5 years and has been key and decisive for many of our achievements, that is, for these important achievements, not only bilaterally, between us and the EU, but also multilaterally, that is, with all of us, in the region.
It’s been a real pleasure working with him and we’re not happy that we won’t have the opportunity to continue working with him, but we wish him every success in the future and of course I owe him this thanks from his hometown, Budapest.
On the other hand, it is a pleasure to thank the prime minister, the foreign minister, the Hungarian government for what I said. It is another thing that for me, for us, it is always a pleasure to come to Budapest because we have always followed and seen Hungary as an example, as a model in terms of internal reforms in the administration, in the government, reforms for find creative ways for the ministries to be as efficient as possible in terms of a society where there is well-being, starting from not very encouraging conditions in terms of finances. So we seek to learn more and more from Hungary and from all those who manage different sectors.
For this reason, even today we talked about how we could expand this cooperation of ours, which in fact is not cooperation in itself, but it is one-way help from the Hungarian side towards us, and we, from our side, are learning as much as possible from them.
Today we signed two agreements of understanding, in the field of agriculture and the second one in the field of public administration, and again I must say that public administration is really very important for all those countries that are in the process of joining the EU and Hungary’s experience for us is very important.
We also talked about investments and I told the prime minister that we feel encouraged by the fact that Hungarian companies, that is, Hungarian trading companies are investing, but also the number of foreign direct investments in euro figures coming from Hungary is unusual being always compared to countries that are like Albania in size, so it is about 350 million euros, which is a really significant figure for our economy and is really impressive in terms of the performance of a country like Hungary, which is not expected you have in your country, that is, foreign investments. So we discussed how we can achieve even more in this area.
Tourism is a target for example and we are seeing more and more Hungarian citizens coming to Albania for holidays. On our coast, this number has increased again compared to last year and at the moment we are seeing a great increase in tourism in Albania. We had 10 million tourists last year and this year the figure will reach 12 million or more, with the airport having the biggest increase in Europe and we want to have not only Hungarian tourists who we certainly welcome and by the way, Hungary is the country from which we had a queen, but we also want investments in tourism to follow and to have the Hungarian flag in Albania, and we like the Hungarian flag very much. We don’t look at it at all as a dance or as if it will conquer us and in the end, but not least, I also want to express my deep gratitude to Prime Minister Orbán for his unwavering support for the Western Balkans and not just words. , but with deeds. I also want to thank him who has always said that the Western Balkans is as important to the EU as the EU is to the Western Balkans and I eagerly expect that many more things will be done between the 6 countries of the Western Balkans and Hungary even if it is not only in relation to things related to the Berlin Process or the growth plan, but also in the financial field for aspects related to learning from history and to judge the present by trying to let the future not surprise us.
Mr. Prime Minister, dear friend! It’s always a very special pleasure to be here, and I’m sorry I didn’t come in the shoes that protocol calls for, but I’m just wearing some boring, plain black shoes.
Thank you!
