In a turbulent Europe, where chancellors, presidents and prime ministers grapple with major dilemmas over security, the economy and geopolitical challenges, a glimmer of hope comes from Bled, Slovenia: Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, is showing Europe what direction it should take.
At the 20th edition of the Bled Strategic Forum, Rama took to the stage not simply as a Balkan leader representing a country still outside the EU, but as a kind of modern philosopher who, amidst irony and contradictions, gave Europe a golden piece of advice: to finally decide whether to deepen its path or fall apart, with each state making the existential choice of whose satellite to become.
And, of course, Rama's rhetorical question could not be missing: why wasn't Europe in Brazil? A reflection that places the Albanian prime minister not only in the role of global analyst, but also in that of a guide for the old continent.
Amid warnings about friends in danger of being lost and advice that Europe should be “more open to the world,” Rama adds a new dimension to European politics: that of a Balkan lecture on globalization. After all, who better than Albania – a country still waiting in the corridors of membership – can show the EU how not to lose its way?
In Bled, Rama didn't just talk about Europe. He spoke as Europe, in a tone that suggests that if the continent needed a "special advisor" for its future, it has already found one: in Tirana.
