"We have common goals, different methods," said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, regarding relations with Kosovo's acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
He made the statement in response to the question of whether Rama will join Kurti in reacting unanimously to the protests of Albanian students in North Macedonia, demanding that the jurisprudence exam be given in the Albanian language.
"I don't begrudge anyone who has their own back. Kosovo has its own prime minister. It has its own institutions and there was a time before I became prime minister when Tirana told Kosovo what to do and they went to Skopje and Tetovo and told them what to do. Those were very brutal years in terms of the vulgarity of foreign policy in general and regional policy in particular. Brutally ignorant, which has only brought damage," Rama said at a rally with young people in Jalë.
He added that what was called the "Tirana Platform", as a document agreed upon between Albanian parties in North Macedonia in 2017, to have basic conditions to enter the government, was a request of the Albanians themselves and not Rama's.
"No one can say that I intervened in the campaign in Macedonia to help one or to attack the other. I have always been respectful. As far as Kosovo is concerned, Kosovo is another country. It is not a province of Albania in the sense that it does not depend on Albania. It is another country. It has its own institutions, so I always meet Albin with great pleasure. Our conversation goes very well when we meet and we have a lot of humor with each other. If there was a camera to see when I meet with Albin, the whole world would be surprised. But we are not in a position to say, you come here, and he says no. We have mutual respect, but each has his own country, his own government, his own mind. Fortunately, we have common goals, different methods. Two different people and there is no problem," he said.
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Rama has also stated that Albania will not have the power to stand in the way of anyone opening negotiations for membership in the European Union, provided that the Albanian state is accepted in the near future.
Over the years, Rama-Kurti relations have been characterized by verbal clashes, despite both saying they communicate directly with each other. Kurti had expressed reservations about some of Rama's positions regarding the Open Balkans, while Rama has called for changes in Kosovo's positions vis-à-vis allied states.
