At the end of the conference with EC President Ursula Von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Prime Minister Edi Rama, in addition to expressing gratitude, said that "Albania still has homework to do" and that the only instructions for building a democratic state gives the European Union.
"So we have a fundamental difference, we can talk about how long the process will take or how torturous this path is, but since the Russian aggression there is something irreversible, we are very observant of every way of speaking, eye contact, smile. Today is not the same, this Summit has produced completely different results, Von der Leyen said. In the sense that it indicates to the EU that the right is being opened to non-member countries to take additional steps that are normally associated with membership, both financially and in the opening of a single market. Not all member countries agree on this, there were skeptics. I am very optimistic about this spirit that exists between member and non-member countries, we have a high attention. We have reached the point that Germany, France say you will do a few more kilometers and we are here for that".
Rama did not spare the jokes in his speech, saying that the EU and the Western Balkans are "a couple, but they have not yet received the blessing of the church".
"How would we get to this point if you didn't tell us what to do? You have to be Germany so we don't tell you what to do. I love Germany, but we know and we learned the hard way, we need you to push us because everything says the EU produces something that we can't find anywhere, that you learn even in books, it is the building of the state in a democratic way, there is no who will teach us but the EU. I can say that this summit was historic because it opened a path that will be wider every year, even wider after two years, I never said that we will have a 'date' with the EU, I learned that you leave in dating it doesn't matter how much you want to go out, but do your homework and then see, when the stars align then we'll get married. We are a couple despite not being blessed by the church or the mayor."
Describing the summit as very fruitful, Rama thanked the European leaders for their presence in Tirana and said that the country is always open for the development of summits.
"I thank you very much for this great opportunity, that you are in Tirana not only to repeat that our doors are open and as a concrete proof, that yes, some spaces are open. Now it is just the way we will behave, thank you for coming and being so patient, I hope it was not a boring day, we would like to make Albania the center of the summits and we can offer this service anywhere else with the consensus of 47 countries .”