"Zvërneci is private land"/ Rama: There is no chance that Albania will take steps that contradict EU criteria

2026-07-05 09:54:00, Politikë CNA

"Zvërneci is private land"/ Rama: There is no chance that Albania

Prime Minister Edi Rama, in a video published on his social networks, has provided an overview of the government's main developments and decisions.

Rama spoke about his visit to Bochum, Germany, during the week, where he said he presented the transformations made in Albania through digitalization and how governance is being modernized through the introduction of Artificial Intelligence.

"Another highlight of the week was the visit to Bochum, Germany, at the invitation of the organizers of the international technology summit "Ruhr Summit", where I was invited to present the transformations we have made in Albania with digitalization and the way we have modernized and are modernizing governance through digitalization and, most recently, through the introduction of Artificial Intelligence."

Another moment in that visit was the meeting with the state's Prime Minister, Hendrik Wüst, one of the most prominent figures of the German CDU and a friend interested in developments in Albania, in the progress of the Western Balkans accession process, with whom we spoke both about this aspect, namely about Germany's support in closing the negotiation chapters, and also about expanding bilateral relations with Germany through relations with the regions", said the Prime Minister.

He further added that the "icing on the cake" of that visit was the interview with the DW journalist, which he said he had believed to be untrue regarding Zvërnec.

He said that in the interview he was asked whether public land could be privatized, while emphasizing again that Zvërnec is private land. He also added that the entire project process will be carried out in harmony with the monitoring process by the European Commission.

"But, without a doubt, the "icing on the cake" of this visit was the unexpected interview with the journalist from the international section of Deutsche Welle, where, for the sake of truth, I was surprised by the way the journalist had completely "swallowed" the soup of untruths regarding Zvërnec and regarding the relationship between the government and the company represented by Jared Kushner, not hiding that she belonged to the broad camp of all those who turned Albania into an arena to wage their "war" with Trump, whether in America, Australia, or even Europe."

I was faced with questions like: "How can public land be privatized, sold?", which has neither happened nor has there been any reason to happen. Zvërnec is private land, Sazani is public land, where we have not yet closed the agreement. Precisely because we are negotiating a partnership and the state, which will always be the owner of the land, will have to be a partner in the venture for the agreement to be realized.

So, no sale of public land has been requested. Then, the whole part that has to do with protected areas, with Chapter 27, as far as we are aware or what we are able to sacrifice, even the European Union itself, to do the project, is a big logical mistake. Meanwhile, the story is quite simple. Anyone who is very clear or has a little bit of clarity about the fact that I am here to lead Albania towards membership in the European Union, the fact that we have a very strong popular mandate to realize this historic mission, the fact that this historic mission is not comparable and equivalent to anything, is also very clear about the fact that there is no chance for Albania to take steps, to make developments that contradict the standards and criteria of the European Union.

In this specific case, everything is a whirlwind, which mixes and mixes and mixes for purposes that are now clearly different, while we are obliged by those standards to carry out the environmental impact assessment, which we are doing; we are obliged by those standards to respond to all the criteria of the European Union. So, so to speak, the "security" for all those who are concerned is there; it is precisely the European Commission, which has so far been continuously familiar with the facts and there is no sense of alarm, because it is very clear that the entire process will be carried out in harmony with the monitoring process by the European Commission" , said Rama. /CNA