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Rama's former negotiator, Zef Mazi, rejects EU passport propaganda

Politiko 2025-05-06 14:07:43

Rama's former negotiator, Zef Mazi, rejects EU passport propaganda

“I cannot understand where the enthusiasm for the closure of negotiations and for the European passport comes from.” Like any rational person, Edi Rama’s former chief negotiator for talks with the European Union, diplomat Zef Mazi, has rejected the prime minister’s propaganda during the electoral campaign. Opening chapters “is not the same thing” as closing them. Albania has not closed any so far, he said in an interview with BIRN.

"Montenegro had opened 32 chapters in 2012, 13 years later, in 2025, Montenegro has been able to close only five chapters, if I'm not mistaken," Mazi said during the interview.

“Therefore, I cannot understand where the rhetorical enthusiasm of closing negotiations in 2027 or of granting EU passports comes from. As much as I would like to see things in a different light, this seems more illusionary than realistic.”

The government has advertised the opening of 16 out of 35 negotiation chapters by 2022, but former diplomat Zef Mazi, Albania's chief negotiator with the EU in 2020-2022, said that opening chapters "is not the same thing" as closing them. Albania has so far not closed any.

"I am very cautious when it comes to this, especially being aware of the circumstances and the situation within the EU and the skepticism of some EU member states regarding the Western Balkans in general," Mazi said.

He also refuted Rama's propaganda that integration is a one-party issue.

"EU integration is not a party issue, but a country issue," he said.

“When a country becomes a member state, the nameplate does not say 'Socialist Party' or 'Democratic Party', but the name of the country. The rest is PR and campaigning.”

Source BIRN

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