TIRANA, March 1 – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has visited Bucharest, where he discussed further deepening of the bilateral ties but also to make a call to Romania to recognize the independence of Kosovo.
After official talks with Romanian Prime minister Victor Ponta, Rama said he had asked Romania once again to recognize the independence of Kosovo and support the new state.
“I come here repeatedly with the demand of recognition of Kosovo independence and also with the demand that Romania gives permanent support so that this country will become a member of the countries of whose family it is part of. We are certain that the problem of recognizing the state of Kosovo is not only a bilateral issue, but a common problem, which regards us all, in support to the guarantee of the regional safety and to blur certain trends and frustrations from other neighbor countries,” the Albanian prime minister said.
The two countries also signed an agreement on social security.
Ponta assured Rama of Romania’s full support in Albania’s European path. Ponta highlighted it is important that the Tirana authorities take over the good practices used by Romania in the process of EU integration and, also to learn from mistakes in this field made by the Bucharest governments.
“Should you succeed to do all the good things Romania has done all the way to the European Union integration and avoid its mistakes, you’ll make it faster and better than we did,” he said.
Rama mentioned the significant moment of the bilateral political, economic and social relations between Romania and Albania, and offered Tirana’s readiness to take over from the Romanian side the good practices in respect of EU integration.
“We have signed a very important agreement in the area of social protection, which guarantees all Albanians working in Romania the ensuring of their social contributions in Romania. Mutually, Romanians who work or have worked in Albania are guaranteed the same conditions concerning their social contributions,” said Rama.
He also added that both countries have already reached a final stage of the discussions on projects aimed at collaboration between the Education Ministries “on granting a number of scholarships to some Albanian students who will study in Romania in the IT sector.”
Rama also said they also had talked about making up a network of experts in administration and institutions, “who will help us in the process of Albania’s European integration. We are speaking of those experts who have already brought their contribution and helped Romania and other countries in their pre-accession stage.”
During the visit Rama also met with Romanian parliament Speaker Valeriu Zgoneau and the Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and Bucharest Mayor Sorin Oprescu.
