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Palestinians in Albania? Rama from Munich: It won't happen, not during my government!
2025-02-16 10:05:40 / POLITIKË
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in Munich that the US government has not yet submitted any request to host Palestinian refugees in Albania, but the answer will still be "No!"
" I didn't understand why you desperately asked me to be part of this panel on the Middle East." This was among the first sentences that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said during the activity held within the framework of the Munich Security Conference, entitled: "Beyond Conflict: Assessing the Paths and Obstacles Leading to Sustainable Peace in the Middle East", on Saturday afternoon (15.02).
The war in Gaza and the Israel-Palestine conflict were the topics of this meeting, in which people from politics, academia, civil society and the media filled almost the entire hall at the "Amerikahaus" in Munich.
Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud were also scheduled to speak on the panel, but they canceled their attendance at the last minute and were replaced by German politician Armin Laschet, of the CDU party, and former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Another panelist was Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in the US, an expert on the Middle East and mainly Iran, and a former regional advisor to Republican and Democratic governments in the United States.
Palestinians in Albania?
US President Donald Trump said a few days ago during a press conference that Albania is on the list of countries he is considering for sending Palestinian refugees.
"No one from the Trump administration has asked us, but even if they do ask us – which is not logical, because we are in the middle of Europe and how can hundreds of thousands of people come to us… – anyway, this is a logistical part and we are a small country. But this is not going to happen, at least not during my government," Rama said.
Bringing to the attention of those present the hospitality of Jews during World War II, the acceptance of 7,000 mujahedeen, and the shelter of Afghans who fled after the Taliban's return to power in 2021 and who took refuge in Shëngjin, where some of them still remain - Rama stated that the situation with the Palestinians is different.
"We feel very sorry for these people who are victims of one of the most brutal dictatorships that has ever existed, which is Hamas, but we are not part of this history and we never will be," Rama declared, emphasizing that numbers also matter.
Trump's idea of relocating Palestinians to different countries around the world is also seen as something completely wrong by Suzanne Maloney. "It is not normal at all for these people to be forcibly removed from their land," she said.
“From branch to branch”
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati said that “the EU has left a very big vacuum in the Middle East” and that EU leaders should be more present in the region. Laschet, for his part, commented that “Europe cannot help, but must be part of the process.”
About a month ago, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Syria, a country emerging from a long war and the oppressive rule of Bashar Al-Assad. This meeting was brought up as a positive example of the European role and support in the Middle East, something that Rama did not agree with.
And while Laschet defended the role of Germany and the European Union in the region, Rama surprised everyone present in the hall by reducing the German chief diplomat to her appearance. “She is beautiful” was Rama’s comment on Minister Baerbock’s visit to Syria.
The Albanian prime minister spent most of the panel time completely getting off topic. Rama focused again on the EU and, ironically mocking its way of functioning, said that the EU is a structure that, according to him, "invents new norms and regulations every week."
Rama even took on the role of moderator from time to time, not leaving much space for the real moderator of the section, Mayssoun Zein Al Din, to speak, who was often embarrassed by the ignoring he often did to her during the conversation, where other questions were asked and others were answered./DW
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