The population is shrinking, but the SP is "pleased": We have done a lot for young people to stay!

In the "BBC World Questions" podcast, in Tirana, one of the main topics discussed was the emigration of young Albanians. During the discussion, Valbona Haletaj raised a key question: How can a 20-year-old be convinced to think about a future in Albania, when many countries in Europe and the world offer better and safer opportunities?

On the other hand, SP deputy, Lavdrim Krashi, promoted a positive image of Albania, claiming that the government has made great efforts to keep young people in the country and that immigration numbers have decreased. Krashi emphasized the improvements in infrastructure and public services, presenting Albania as a developing country that offers opportunities for young people.

However, this optimism contradicts the reality of the numbers. In the first half of 2024 alone, Albanian emigrants have sent 510 million euros to the country through remittances, a figure that shows the high proportions of emigration and the economic dependence on the diaspora.

This highlights the real challenge the country faces to curb the mass exodus of young people and to create a stable future for them within Albania.

Jonny Dymond: Let's go to our first question from the audience, and it comes from Valbona Haletaj. Thank you very much. How can you convince a 20-year-old today to think about a future in Albania at a time when all European countries and other continents are offering us excellent opportunities for a more secure future? Valbona, thank you very much.

Valbona Haletaj:   The question is: how can you convince a 20-year-old today to think about a future in Albania at a time when all European countries and those beyond are offering excellent opportunities for a more secure future?

Jonny Dymond: I must say that we had the most questions on the subject of migration. As I mentioned in the introduction, the population has been shrinking for three decades, especially among young people. I would like to hear from the socialists in power the answer.

Lavdrim Krashi: Of course, we must set a context for what has happened to Albania during the last 34 years, but also for the 50 years before that, because for 50 years, as you mentioned before, we were a country closed from the the rest of the world. But then when we joined the European family, as we call it, there was a great desire for people to seek new opportunities and migrate abroad. We had huge waves of mass immigration. I am one of those, for example, who was in the United Kingdom for many years and decided to return to Albania. However, what is important for us as a country is to create opportunities, one, for people to stay here in the first place, and for those who want to go out legally, gain experience and come back, the doors are open for this too.

The question is, how can you convince a 20-year-old today? It certainly starts with providing or improving public services. Look, Jonny, 10 or 15 years ago, and this is not to score political points here, but Albania was a depressed country. It had very poor infrastructure. There was a collapsed or collapsing education system and other public services. The way we can convince young people to stay in Albania is by improving our education system, by improving our public services, the way we offer them, but also the standards.

Being a British Albanian, of course, for me Britain is one of the countries with which we should have a special relationship, and we have done a great job, for example, in recent years, mainly in the north of the country, where most of young people leave for the United Kingdom, but also for other countries. We have done a lot of work with the British government through the British embassy to convince and improve people's lives so that they can convince themselves to stay in Albania.