At today’s speech by Endi Rama at a central hotel in Thessaloniki included announcements for Albanians living in Greece.

According to rthess.gr, the Albanian prime minister announced that Albanian teachers who live in Greece and teach Albanian to children will join a program and will receive payment from the Albanian state.

The Albanian Prime Minister made extensive reference to Thessaloniki, which has always been a passage for Albanian citizens, the hospitality and warmth felt by Albanians in Greece, and spoke about Albanian citizens who have given a lot to Greece over the years as workers. He also said that the tourism development is due to the immigrants living in Greece and investing.

“We need within ourselves to cultivate friendship for the Greek people. The Greeks have helped us, they have been by our side and we respect them a lot,” Edi Rama said. while referring to the protests outside the venue. “What we have heard about Northern Epirus are issues that we were concerned about centuries ago. Now we are in the 21st century and we are not dealing with the past,” he said, while media outlets such as himara.gr reported that the Albanian prime minister commented that some people, whom he described as “ghosts of the past”, protested his presence, using leaflets and slogans related to the issue of Northern Epirus.

According to Thessaloniki media, these were members of nationalist organizations, who held a protest rally outside One Salonica, on the occasion of Edi Rama’s presence in the city today. They say they oppose the presence of the Albanian prime minister in Thessaloniki, at a time when the “Albanian state is systematically violating the human rights of the recognized Greek minority of Northern Epirus,” while they also protested the murder of Katsifa.

Expressing regret for these reactions, he said that such actions do not help relations between the two countries. “A protest was organized with ridiculous leaflets inspired by the so-called “Northern Epirotes” and they only make me feel pity. “Northern Europeans” is a dead term, over time it has died. And it has died with every dream of the people who try to ridicule it. Anyone who uses this term when talking about the south of Albania seems to not want to live in the 21st century. It is a fossil and a pity”.

“This is not a reason to cultivate negative feelings towards Greece. Greece is an indispensable partner that, together with Italy and Turkey, forms a strategic triangle in our foreign policy,” he added.

“We want to have the best relations with Greece. I believe that these relations should not be affected by cases like that of Freddy Beleri. It is a pity that there was this incident that damaged our relations. But as far as I am concerned, Greece is a strategic partner, not just a neighbor for Albania,” he added.

He continued: “Kyriakos (Mitsotakis) is a modern leader of Greece and I consider him a very smart, very qualified politician. I have nothing but respect and friendship for him. I don’t see any problem from my side to strengthen the relationship with Greece. On the contrary, I think it is very important for Greece and Albania to make this relationship stronger.”

“Indeed, Greece has always supported Albania’s European perspective,” he added: “Membership in Europe is not far away, in five years is a feasible time.” He also spoke about the country’s progress, noting: “No one should question what the Albanian people have done and their progress” so far under his premiership.

“Let none of you be ashamed to say you are Albanian. The country has entered NATO, it has made progress in all areas,” he said, stressing to those present the necessity for him to continue the policy of development in the elections next spring in Albania.

He said that distance voting by absentee ballot is being considered, making it clear that Greece is the home of Albanian immigrants living in our country.

See photos and video from Edi Rama’s event

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Today’s event was part of the Albanian government’s efforts to maintain contacts with the Albanian diaspora, as well as to discuss issues concerning migrants, such as their integration into society and their rights in the host country. However, many believe that the move was purely political and another way for Rama to secure votes in the upcoming 2025 parliamentary elections, as himara.gr had reported.

A few days ago, Edi Rama had published the poster of the rally, with a caption in the post: “Thessaloniki, Sunday 3 November, 11 am. 3 November 2013, 11 November 2013. Proud of Albania.”

It was preceded by a rally in Athens, in Galati, last May.

A protest rally on the occasion of Rama’s presence in the city today