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Refugees have become a bargaining tool that Edi Rama uses to collect political credits in Brussels and Berlin, while Albania is transformed into the EU's warehouse for unwanted...
On May 15, 2025, during a joint press conference in Tirana with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Edi Rama clearly stated that Albania would not accept any agreement for the deportation of refugees from poor and conflict-affected countries trapped on British territory.
He described the agreement with Italy as the only one, presenting it as a unique and irreversible case. But just 40 days later, all this rhetoric collapsed.
On 19 June 2025, the Albanian government, through a special decision, approved in principle an agreement with the German government, which will enable the arrival and settlement of refugees caught on German territory, through the establishment of reception centers in Albania. The agreement was negotiated through the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ-GMBH) and was made possible through the use of Law No. 43/2016 “On International Agreements”.
The decision of June 19 does not specify the number of centers, nor the areas where they will be established, nor the number of refugees that Germany will bring, nor the duration of their stay. What is known is only one fact: the centers will be established. This scenario is a copy of the agreement with Italy, where Albania became a place of refuge for refugees caught in the Mediterranean, with the reception center in Shëngjin and the isolation camp in Gjadër, Lezha.
Contrary to what Rama himself declared to Starmer, that Albania would not accept similar agreements with any other country, it now turns out that it was simply a public lie with a one-month expiration date.
The agreement with Germany was initially made behind the scenes and then formalized, as another service that the prime minister offers to EU leaders in exchange for political support for his personal power.
Even more paradoxical is the way this agreement has been handled: the draft decision was proposed and will be implemented by the Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation, Blendi Gonxhe, and not by the Ministry of Interior, which according to legal and constitutional functions is the institution responsible for immigration issues.
Moreover, the GIZ agency, which in this case represents the German government, does not have a mandate to manage asylum or migration issues. It deals with agreements for economic development, infrastructure and environmental projects in partner countries, but not with the transfer of refugees or the construction of shelters for them.
So, not only was the agreement made contrary to Rama's own public statements, but its implementation is also being done outside of any institutional logic, giving the role of emigrant manager to a ministry that deals with startups, innovation, and culture.
This scheme confirms once again that refugees have become a bargaining tool, which Edi Rama uses to collect political credits in Brussels and Berlin, while Albania is transformed into an EU warehouse for the unwanted, without transparency and without respect for the functions of the rule of law.
If this is the model of Albania's relations with the European Union, then it becomes clear that integration is not happening due to meeting criteria, but as a result of the subservient services that the Tirana government silently provides, in exchange for its political survival./ Pamphlet
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