After Becket's 140 million euros, almost another 140 million euros for the Port of Durrës, here are the fines that the Albanians will pay for the whims of Edi Rama, the Italian journalist puts the prime minister in a "trap"

The whims of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has declared "war" on businesses, especially foreign ones, seem to be costing Albanian citizens a lot. A little while ago, the International Arbitration has made the final decision, as it decided that the Albanian state must pay the Italian businessman, Francesco Beketi, an amount that goes up to 140 million euros. But as if this was not enough, other troubles await the Albanian government. This is after it was learned that the Court of International Arbitration rejected the request of the Rama government and decided in favor of the German company EMS, opening the trial on the basis of the case for a damage of 40 million euros, caused to the latter by the decision to turn the port of Durrës into a resort . With this decision, unfortunately, 40 million euros of Albanian taxes can be considered lost. Meanwhile, at the same time, the Turkish company "Durres Kurum Shipping" has sued the Rama government for another 100 million euros, in a second case that is again related to the Port of Durres. So, taking into account the serial losses of arbitration cases by the Rama government, as a result of clientelistic decisions, this terrible bill will increase and in the end it is the Albanian citizens who will pay for Rama's fault or whim.

Rama collides with the Italian journalist

Meanwhile, neither the summit of Ukraine which was held yesterday in Tirana, today the capital also hosts the summit of the EU-Western Balkans. Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed all the participants on the red carpet today. While Rama was waiting for the representatives to arrive, an Italian journalist took advantage of the opportunity to ask the prime minister a question. "Will you pay for Francesco Becchetti?", was the journalist's question to Rama. "I don't know him," answered Rama, while the journalist tried to ask again, but the prime minister answered with the same words. The Italian journalist raised the claim appearing in the Italian media that the money that Becketi has won in arbitration can be kept from the money that the Italian government will give to Albania for the establishment of refugee camps. Asked about this issue, Rama said: "He will receive zero lek." Then the journalist asks him what happens to the agreement if the government changes and Rama tells him that he will be here for another 5 years.

The EU's 6 billion euro "bag" for the Western Balkans cannot be opened without reforms

But as the "Rama" government must liquidate the debts to the companies that have won the arbitration trial, the Commissioner for Neighborhood Expansion, Oliver Varhelyi, stated yesterday that the European Union's plan for economic growth in the Western Balkans, where Albania is also part of, foresees the doubling of income for the countries of the region in the next 10 years. During his speech from the EU-Western Balkans summit, Varhelyi emphasized that this plan will work only if the countries of the Western Balkans will implement the rules of the European Union. Furthermore, Commissioner Varhelui disclosed the conditions as he said that there is half of the time left to implement this plan. He further added that the EU should offer all the benefits to the countries that will become members of the European Union. Varhelyi said that in addition to the 30 billion euros, another 6 billion euros should be given. Among other things, he said that the region should move forward quickly only with reforms. However, the EU's 6 billion euro "bag" is not opened for the Western Balkans if the member states do not complete the reforms, even at a fast pace to meet the set deadlines. This is what the General Director for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, stated yesterday. At the EU-Western Balkans Summit that is being held in Tirana, Koopman underlined that in order to receive 6 billion euros of funds from Brussels, a high pace of reforms is needed. He said that there is only one month left for the closure of the reforms from the Western Balkans region. The director of the EU group for neighborhood and enlargement also emphasized that independent institutions should also do their work.