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Democratic MP Jorida Tabaku from the Parliament podium today denounced Prime Minister Edi Rama and his government for not only failing to help farmers and agriculture with higher budget funds and subsidies, but also stealing aid provided by the European Union, as was the case with the IPARD funds scandal.
Tabaku said that the prime minister is promoting himself by walking from village to village in Albania, talking about welfare, but in reality, Albanian farmers and ranchers are suffering and have been abandoned, as they only receive 139 euros per year in subsidies or assistance, when countries in the region and Europe have them at least 45 times higher.
"The Prime Minister walks from village to village and talks about welfare and investments in agriculture. But the reality is different and is not measured by propaganda. For days now, we have noticed the Prime Minister talking about farmers, about cultivators, telling success stories and even using individual examples for optimistic stories. But reality is not measured by history, but by what happens with products, imports and exports. Today more than ever, this reality is bitter because agriculture has been in decline for seven years in a row, from 20% of gross production it has fallen to 16%," Tabaku said, among other things.
She also brought examples from the region, such as the case of Serbia.
"Serbia supports its farmers 15 times more than Albania does. This is not a difference, it is a gap. In the region, up to 6 thousand euros are given per year, in Europe many times more, and in Albania the farmer receives 45 times less," said Tabaku.
The MP also mentioned the issue of corruption and the IPARD funds scandal, which the EU itself, according to her, qualifies as "the largest theft of funds outside the Union."
"Another problem is corruption. For years, Albania has been involved in a scandal, 116 million euros of IPARD funds that disappeared and went to a minority. You only wave the political flags of propaganda for EU integration. When the European monitors came, they found neither greenhouses nor farms, but barren land like Durana Park, tender documents and abuses. This is not abuse, it is theft, a pattern. Is there a greater shame, is there anything more ugly than stealing EU funds? The EU itself has said it, it is the biggest theft ever with EU funds outside the Union. This is the truth," Tabaku said, among other things.
In the end, she accused the government of measuring success only by propaganda.
"You measure success only by propaganda. But how can an Albanian farmer survive with only 139 euros per year in aid? The biggest blow that has been dealt to agriculture certainly comes from the lack of subsidies. Of course, also from the lack of EU funds, but also from corruption, the deformation of the economy. Most of the capital does not go to agriculture, but to the economy of mortar and bricks, real estate, which make up 60% of activity. It takes young people 60 years to buy an apartment. This is not economics, but theft. This system is not a deviation, but a rule and then it is sold as a success. The farmer remains unjust. How a farmer can survive with 139 euros that the government gives him per year, compared to the countries of the region, only you can know. When agriculture falls, the economy falls, and when the economy falls, Albania falls too, and unfortunately this has happened", concluded Tabaku.
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