At the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs was held the ceremony on the occasion of the change of the Minister. After five and a half years at the head of this institution, Ditmir Bushati has handed over to Prime Minister Edi Rama the portfolio of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

During the ceremony organized with the diplomatic staff, Minister Bushati noted the several years of achievements at the helm of this Ministry and thanked the entire ministry team for the fruitful work and the cooperation over the years. “Albeit I will not be any more part of the everyday work, I feel privileged to be part of the history of this institution,” Bushati said in his farewell speech. “Since the first day of my assignment, I have relied on three values: integrity, trust and respect. The ministry that I am leaving behind is many times better and more solid in dealing with the challenges of time than it was five and a half years ago” said Bushati. For Bushati, none of these achievements would have been possible without the trust, cooperation, and support of Prime Minister Rama and colleagues of the Council of Ministers.

Prime Minister and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Edi Rama, emphasizing that he was holding the shortest speech in his life, officially delegating the direction and all the competencies of MEFA to the Deputy Minister Gent Cakaj. Rama stressed that Cakaj will be the Chief Diplomat of Albania at home and abroad.

Deputy Minister Gent Cakaj, in his status as the Chief of this key Albanian state institution, with competencies delegated by Mr. Rama himself, considered the beginning of his work as a guaranteed good start in this new position.

“I thank Prime Minister Rama for his trust and care shown to me at every turn,” said Mr. Cakaj. He guaranteed that there will be no change of strategic and political objectives of the Albanian Government in the framework of its Foreign Policy.

“With new energies and proactive approach, we will continue without doubt to move forward with much more passion and willingness on the road of regional integration, by strengthening the profile of Albania as an active, dynamic actor with undeniable weight and central role that is listened by everyone and treated with respect by everybody”, said Cakaj.

 

Farewell speech by Minister Bushati

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, as I was walking into this building for the last time as Foreign Minister, I realized that I would no longer be part of its daily life, but I am lucky that I am going to be a part of its history.

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs is among those few institutions that entail the symbolic responsibility of representing the State. It is probably for this reason that such institution has endured better than the other institutions the waves of transition and misdoings of politics.

From my very first day in office, I have considered the specific authority of the Foreign Minister’s position an honour and obligation, and during my entire tenure I have tried to rely on three values; integrity, trust, and respect.

Integrity does not imply only intellectual uprightness or personal virtue, but also inclusiveness. I have tried to demonstrate this by involving in the decision-making many colleagues in the Foreign Service based on their area of expertise and experience, as well as by taking into account the needs of this institution and the priorities of our work.

In my work, I have been guided by the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, and the Strategic Priorities of our Foreign Policy. The foundations underlying such policy stem from the establishment of the Albanian Modern State, which was redefined after the fall of the communist dictatorship, clearly establishing our European and Western belonging.

To me, integrity is also a matter of recognising and building on the work of our patriotic predecessors, each of whom has laid a stone in our state building.

Trust is the connecting thread in diplomat’s daily work, because the diplomat, more than any other employee, deals with the “other”, with the different, with the foreign, and with the novelty, especially in a world that no longer abides by the rules we already know. In this context, trust also implies courage to be able to open up and learn from one another.

I have tried to demonstrate this by opening up the Ministry not only to new approaches and ideas of researchers of foreign policy, but also to the new generation of diplomats.

I hope that every young diplomat that has joined the service over these years will serve and represent Albania with love, not simply for their country but for its people as well, wherever they are posted.

To me respect means to be able to listen. During my work in this institution, I have tried to create the right settings and the necessary environment to enable colleagues to talk to one another, and to participate and contribute in decision-making. I have always been willing to listen to you without prejudice because I have always believed that no one has the monopoly on the truth and as result the on foreign policy.

Guided by these values, I have tried to renew and update our diplomatic corps as this is the only way for it to be able to provide its irreplaceable input to our society and Homeland.

I believe Albania has grown into an ever more reliable partner and actor in the international arena, with a clear and unmistakable physiognomy in the mosaic of our Euro-Atlantic family.

Due to our joint efforts, we have succeeded in projecting a more dignified and proactive Albania, which approaches challenges as opportunities rather than as problems.

With this approach we have succeeded in:

• Consolidating the strategic partnership with the USA and the EU;

• Taking important steps ahead in the European integration process by getting EU candidate status, getting the clear recommendation by the European Commission to start accession negotiations, and the EU decision to launch the screening process, and the agenda of negotiations;

• Further strengthening our role in NATO, as a direct contribution for the Euro-Atlantic family to which we belong. Albania’s membership, for the first time, in the UN Human Rights Council stands as testimony to our social sensibility to respecting and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a contribution to multilateralism. For the first time, an Albanian representative was elected to serve in the UN Human Rights Committee;

• Reinforcing our authority across the region by pursing a proactive policy, and participating in the bilateral, trilateral, and quadrilateral initiatives, based on our maxim: Open in the Mediterranean, and locked in the Balkans. We succeeded in having the two first regional premises established in Tirana, respectively, for the Western Balkans Fund and for the Regional Youth Cooperation Office. We also succeeded in having an Albanian representative as chairperson of the Regional Cooperation Council;

• Projecting an Albania with greater authority across the region by consolidating relations with Albanians in the region, and turning this Ministry into a home for all Albanians;

• Enhancing Albania’s image and authority internationally, by getting for the first the chairmanship of an important organisation, such as the OSCE, in 2020;

• Modernising the consular services like never before, and reducing significantly corruption, costs and time of services, as well as increasing the quality of services provided for our citizens, wherever they are, while, at the same time, strengthening our ties with the Diaspora as a natural extension of our foreign policy;

• Opening the Ministry to a new generation of diplomats while hundreds of students do their internship are assist our diplomatic corps inside and abroad;

• Enhancing interaction with the world beyond these walls, by making use of the social networks, and turning of our foreign service into the most followed digital platform;

• Reinforcing the merit-based service, by radically improving the recruiting and career system across the foreign service based on the abilities, and the improvement of financial treatment for diplomats and their families;

• Improving the working conditions and infrastructure in a number of embassies and consulates, thus turning them into worthy premises for the representation of the Albanian State. In serving the institutional memory of the Ministry and the Albanian State, we reconstructed the archives, and started its digitalisation to render it accessible to the wider public.

The Ministry I am leaving behind is in a much better and much more solid to cope with the challenges of our times than what it was five and a half years ago. I am leaving behind an ambitious team that is working with dignity for Albania, is cooperating for a more prosperous region, and is contributing to a more secure Europe.

None of these achievements would have been possible without the trust, cooperation, and support of the Prime Minister Rama, and of my colleagues in the Government Cabinet.

Of great support in the achievement of these goals have also been international partners, with whom I have worked and shared the challenges of our times.

I would like to extend my thanks to all of my collaborators, starting with: Deputy Ministers with whom I have had the pleasure to work with since September 2013 to this day; the Secretaries General; the Directors General, the directors and all the team of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs;

The heads of all diplomatic and consular missions, and their teams;

The tireless staff of the Guard of the Republic, who protect this institution, and the supporting staff, who look after our common environment.

As is already common knowledge, I have shared my long hours of work with the close and dedicated team from my cabinet. I consider that with their willpower, perseverance, patriotism, and preparedness, they represent the best values of the Albanian young professionals. I am confident that each one of them will be an asset wherever they will be contributing across the Albanian society.

For my last thanks, I will have to refer to a personal confession by my esteemed former colleague and current President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to whom “the Foreign Minister is the one being missed most: missed by the Ministry team in the course of their daily work; missed by politics played on a daily basis; and missed by his family”.

And it is exactly the family that has endured the most and has excused unreservedly each and every absence of mine, assuring me of their support on my journey. I would like to thank them for their devotion during my absences, and apologize to them for the weekends I have spent absorbed, as I was, by the Blackberry and the Iphone.

There is no guarantee that what lies ahead of us is going to be better or easier than what we are leaving behind. As a result of our transformative work, there have surely been unhappy individuals and adversaries. However, one thing is for sure: that our challenges have rendered us stronger, more stable, and I hope, worthier for tomorrow’s Albania.

Thank you! Good luck!

 

The speech of Prime Minister and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Edi Rama

The shortest speech of my life.

I, the undersigned, Edi Rama, in the capacity of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania and the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, delegate to Gent Cakaj, Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the leadership of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the representative capacities, inside and outside the country of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

 

Speech of the Deputy Minister Gent Cakaj as Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

Honorable Prime Minister,

Minister Bushati,

Dear colleagues of the Ministry,

With the passing the first wave of unbridled fire on me, I feel somewhat at ease than when this top job was communicated to me. And this, above all for a very strong cause, because being the leader of this key Albanian state institution, with powers delegated by Edi Rama himself, under his unquestionably close observation, is a pretty well guaranteed start under the flames of unfounded accusations and unbiased prejudices.

The change of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, as well as the delegation of competences to a 28-year-old deputy minister as I am; my young age, is perceived as guilt, instead of being perceived as source of energy, inspiration and creativity.

I would hardly question, today and never, the sustained scale of the results and the wide range of successes that this Ministry has achieved for past five years. Under the direction of Minister Bushati and during the government of Prime Minister Rama, the amorphous form and the almost liquid content of Albania’s Foreign Policy has become a solid platform with a dynamic and well-structured approach, strongly based on the principles of both national and international dignity and credibility. Despite the enormous challenges and undeniable problems that inevitably have emerged, Albania today without doubt stands in the highest level of diplomatic representation and the most consolidated level of foreign political action.

Our country has become the bearer of a number of regional initiatives that testify to its credibility beyond our region. Albania stands closer than ever to the historic decision to open formal negotiations and become part of the European political family. Our homeland, Albania, is already in the irreversible stage of the final preparations to crown the greatest success in its multilateral history – the OSCE chairmanship for the coming year.

This transfer of institutional authority of this Ministry from Mr. Bushati, whom I heartily thank for his contribution, to me through Prime Minister Rama, whom, in fact, I do not even know how to thank for the trust given and the care shown towards me at every turn, does not imply any change in the strategic and political objectives of the Albanian Government in the framework of its foreign policy.

With new energies and proactive approach, we will continue without doubt to move forward with much more passion and willingness on the road of regional integration, by strengthening the profile of Albania as an active, dynamic actor with undeniable weight and central role that is listened by everyone and treated with respect by everybody. We will remain an inevitable force of peace and stability, a powerful promoter of the spirit of reconciliation and a credible bearer of development ideas, naturally through the means of dialogue and cooperation with all neighbors indiscriminately. Moreover, Albania has now entered a new phase, that of intensifying bilateral relations with the countries of the region, by delivering in the implementation of bilateral agreements and generating new political projects.

As Prime Minister Rama has outlined more than once, we want to further enhance communication, cooperation and interaction with the Albanian factor in particular. In the days ahead of us and the horizons that will be opened, we will be closer to them and they will be closer to us. At the same time, we remain committed to meeting all our obligations arising from our engagements in the region, with particular focus on increasing our quality and performance within the Berlin Process.

This increased attention to regional politics should not be read as a sign of omission on our European agenda, on the contrary, the development of Albania in the region is, according to me, a basic condition for our position on the European agenda and in relation to our international partners. In addition, Albania’s path, and this must be said clearly, to the European family passes through the process of self-consolidation in the region. The process of EU membership is an irreversible political and national process. Albania needs to be committed and well-organized to achieve this goal in real time, in line with the calendar presented and according to actual potentials. The next few months will be a time schedule that will break any boundary between night and day and will shake any difference between tranquility and action.

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs will continue its intensive work for a more qualitative performance within the screening process and will further engage in promoting the approximation of local and European legislation. I would strongly say that one of the central objectives of my job will be to increase the interaction with other ministries to realize without delay any request presented in the June 2018 Council Conclusion and on the other hand, we will continue to have a quality dialogue with member states to make our visible results and our unstoppable reforms clear like the sun.

In addition, the upcoming time requires special attention to two key objectives of Albanian diplomacy: the successful OSCE Chairmanship in 2020 and the commitment to provide our country with a seat in the Security Council of 2022. In spite of unreserved commitments to facilitate these major goals, Albania will fulfill all its obligations within NATO and deepen its quality relations with all its partners in the world, with particular importance on the United States.

In parallel, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs will be strongly committed to further empowering of the Albanian passport, the development of economic diplomacy, the enhancement of programs with the Diaspora and, of course, the continuation of consular services improvement in the light of some very positive examples reached in the last five years and which, however, remain insufficient.

Honorable Prime Minister and dear colleagues of the Ministry

Throughout this time, under the pressure of not saying anything when almost everyone talked about me, I was overwhelmed by the weight of concern within me about what others would say when I spoke, despite my customary power to always say what I think.

However, words about me have already passed me, whether good or bad. I remain hopeful that I have not looked so bad in my first appearance before those who have already heard the bad comments about me, because as the saying goes “The only thing worse than bad health, is a bad name”. I hope that I will become better in the meantime and I also wish that whoever has said good words about me in these days has not lost faith in me for any moment, I hope that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, in particular, is not disappointed with my first appearance. I promise you, that you will always be happier with my job from now and on.

The precious master of the Albanian language, the Albanian poet from the city of Gjakova, among others, through a rare literary figure has said something essential of universal wisdom. “Time, says Podrimja, often marches on the turtle’s back”, and truly during these days, time has passed slowly, but time is often more stubborn than sluggish. That being said, I will push as far as I can all the boundaries of my being to make time a witness, because I have been here close to you to work with mind and heart. I serve with the deepest sense of patriotism and stand with dignity in the height of the faith of any man who has given the vote to this ruling majority, while I spoke very lightly about the coming tasks and the challenges that await us.

I remain hopeful that my actions will speak louder than words for both me and the well-trained team of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Thank you very much.