At the Paris Peace Forum, Prime Minister Edi Rama today brought back a now familiar element of his public communication – his grandmother. While speaking about relations with Serbia and the regional approach, Rama once again recounted a lesson learned from her: “The happier the neighbor, the happier the house. If you are celebrating yourself, make sure that the neighbor is not starving, because all this joy goes to hell.” The message, formulated through family memory, was used by the head of government to argue that cooperation is the only way forward for the Balkans, despite differences and unresolved issues.
Rama focused particularly on the relationship with Serbia, describing the Kosovo issue as “the big problem between the two countries,” but stressed that the refusal to cooperate only harms the interests of Albania and the region. He recalled his visit to Belgrade, emphasizing that “we went to Serbia 68 years after the last visit” by an Albanian leader and that this has its own symbolism in a charged historical context.
The Prime Minister stressed that his political philosophy in this regard remains unchanged: “We cannot be Europeans in Europe and Balkans in the Balkans.” According to him, the countries of the region should behave as partners, not as traditional enemies. Along these lines, he also criticized the European Union, stating that “Europe has been Balkanized,” referring to the recent political crises in several member states. “They cannot approve a budget. What is this? Balkans,” he said, citing France and Great Britain as examples of polarization.
Using his grandmother as a moral reference is not new to Rama’s communication. He has previously told stories about her wisdom at a meeting in Jerusalem, quoted a saying of hers on the “Free Zone” show – “anger is the blackness of the god” – and has also mentioned her Italian origins in other public interviews. Today, this family figure returned to support his thesis that foreign policy should be built on the logic of good neighborliness and reciprocity of interests.
In Paris, Rama positioned himself as a promoter of stability in the region, expressing his belief that tensions bring neither political benefits nor economic development. At the same time, he urged Balkan countries not to expect solutions from Brussels by imitating the conflicting behaviors of some European states, but to build their own models of cooperation that they need.
Amid diplomatic phrases, political comparisons and critical tones towards the European Union, the prime minister's grandmother once again became part of the scene, as a narrative memory and communication tool to explain a strategic approach that Rama has been defending for years: normalization with Serbia.
