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Edi Rama
Prime Minister, Albania

“Three Things You Can't Predict: God, Sex and the EU” Albanian PM Rama Speaks at EU Summit | AC1G

📅 Jun 05, 2026 DRM News 11 MIN 2648 VIEWS 6 SEGMENTS · 1 SPEAKERS
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama brought humor and sharp criticism to the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro, joking that there are "three things you can't predict: God, sex and the EU" when asked about Albania's membership prospects. Rama urged European leaders to accelerate enlargement, warning that keeping Balkan nations waiting risks pushing them toward rival powers. He also defended a proposed luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner, dismissing online claims about the development as misinformation and "hybrid war" narratives targeting Albania. Edi Rama Jokes: “Three Things You...

What Edi Rama said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a Western Balkan Summit, urged the EU to abandon its 'waiting room' approach to enlargement, arguing that keeping candidate countries at arm's length risks them falling under Russian or Chinese influence. He called for a 'helm call moment' where all parties sit together, with candidates contributing immediately while earning full membership through merit. Rama defended Albania's progress on reforms and praised Montenegro's efforts, saying both are close to the finish line. He dismissed protests over a proposed resort in Zet, stating no project exists yet and accusing social media of spreading false narratives linking him to Netanyahu and Kushner. He emphasized the need for Western media to rely on facts. Rama also noted the growth plan is working and that the EU's internal reform proposal is delayed by more than half a year.

Key takeaways

  1. Rama said the EU should stop treating candidate countries like children kept with neighbors, warning they may fall to Russian or Chinese influence.
  2. Rama claimed there is no approved project for the Zet resort, calling social media narratives a 'hybrid war' against Albania.
  3. Rama said Albania is 'doing very well' on reforms and progressing fast toward EU membership.

Chapters

  1. 0:00EU enlargement and waiting room
  2. 1:51Zet resort protest and hybrid war
  3. 3:30Western Balkan Summit and growth plan
  4. 5:30Montenegro and Albania progress
Edi Rama 0:00 ↗
Document the French-German paper. So hopefully my two big friends and very respected leaders of France and Germany will find some more stamina to be more like coal and material.
What do you think Germany and want to give you a waiting room within? No, no. The idea or the argument of danger is over. I heard it from many, from many years. I saw because I am now getting old, you know. So I saw some of them coming and leaving and I'm still here and they have left after having told that no, it's dangerous. We want you in, we'll bring you in. In fact they went out. So it's not a waiting room. It's more integration. That's why I say EU should find now the guts to have a helm call moment. So to say all together around the table like today always, but everyone has to fulfill its own, its own work, its own duties to get more from the table. You know, you don't tell the kids stay to the neighbors until you are ready to come and eat with us, right? Because then, because then one of the kids get to know Russian gangster in the neighborhood. Another kid start to like Chinese dolls and so on and so forth. No, you keep the kids all together. When Albania joins the EU, there are three things you can't predict. Three, right? God, sex, and the EU.
Will you meet with protesters? Will you agree to meet with protesters? What? Will you agree to meet with protesters? Say it again. Will you agree to meet with the protesters so we can discuss their demands regarding the resort protest going on in the country? There are no demands to be discussed because there is no yet project approved, right? So first we need to have the project, to have the project, then to see the project, then to discuss the project. But we can't discuss something that does not exist but that is being presented in the overall social media through a hybrid war against Albania through false narratives like the project is not the project but it's something cooked between me and Bibi Netanyahu through Jared Kushner to bring the Palestinians in, in Zet. And I think the Western media should be much more careful because the facts matter and should always matter because there is no project, because there is no reason to worry as far as there is no project, and because the top architects among the best in the world, the top engineers, landscape architects are engaged and it's not the aim to do some, some disruption with nature but the aim is to make something unique that will be, and amazing for Albanians, but it will be also a gift of Albania to all of you in Europe.
Good morning. So, it's good to be here for the Western Balkan Summit. It is in the last six months the second time that we are meeting our Western Balkan partners. And a lot is going on. We're going to discuss two topics. One is the growth plan and the other enlargement. The growth plan is working well. It has the principle that European Union opens sectors after, before you sit around the table with us. But he said we are all around the table and then of course years needed to, so we should be around the table always like today, not once in a year. Everyone with its own baggage of its own baggage of homework and then everyone married based become full member but full member in terms of what you can take for Europe but right away full member in terms of what you give to Europe otherwise it's like telling the kids until you grow up you stay with the neighbors and then a kid get to know Russian gangster. Another kid get fascinated by Chinese dolls. And then when they grow they are not ready anymore. But on our side the member states have also to explain to our people the benefits of enlargements and that is the strategic component. Enlargement means more security, more prosperity and a bigger place of Europe in the world. So there is momentum. We have to change this moment, turn this momentum now into movement and this movement into membership.
So we have, we have our process of enlargement. And this is the process we are all following. Amma is waiting for a cool moment. Are you ready to step up and also give the candidate countries access to the table that we're sitting at at the moment? This, this is a very interesting proposal. I think we will discuss it here and we will see how the reactions are. I must say Albania is doing very well, working very hard on reforms, progressing fast. That is good. They earn the merits. Is the proposal too late for Montenegro? Montenegro is impressive and amazing the way they are engaged, that they are reforming, they are doing all the steps that are necessary to move forward. My recommendation is stay focused, stay on track because you're very close to the finish line and we are supporting as much as possible. President, when the commission propose its proposal for reforms, internal reforms will be, it was supposed to come in autumn. We're still waiting for it, more than half delay. We're working on that and it will come together with a report that isn't for wider topics. But it will be, it will be presented for radical integration too late for Montenegro and Albania. So Montenegro and Albania are doing both very well and they're moving closer to the finish line. So, as I said, it's a merits-based process and if they deliver the merits, they deserve to move forward and finally be a member of the European Union. Thank you. Thank you.
How are you? Are you going to enter as soon as possible?

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX
APA

Rama, E. (2026, June 5). “Three Things You Can't Predict: God, Sex and the EU” Albanian PM Rama Speaks at EU Summit | AC1G [Interview transcript]. DRM News. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958770/

MLA

Edi Rama. "“Three Things You Can't Predict: God, Sex and the EU” Albanian PM Rama Speaks at EU Summit | AC1G." DRM News, 5 Jun. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958770/.

BibTeX
@misc{rama2026_2958770,
  author       = {Edi Rama},
  title        = {“Three Things You Can't Predict: God, Sex and the EU” Albanian PM Rama Speaks at EU Summit | AC1G},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, DRM News. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jun},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958770/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}