Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has called on the European Union to bring the seven countries currently negotiating or seeking membership into a common European forum, arguing that they should be included in EU discussions rather than kept on the sidelines until they complete all required reforms.
Speaking at the Paris Peace Forum, Rama used a family analogy, comparing the seven countries to the children of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“The European Union should bring the seven countries that are negotiating or are on the path to membership to the table. They should be like Ursula’s children,” Rama said.
The Albanian prime minister noted that it was a coincidence that von der Leyen has seven children, the same number as the countries he was referring to.
He argued that the Commission president had not told her children to go out into the neighbourhood, grow up separately and then return home.
“She did not tell them to go and try to grow up in the neighbourhood and then come back,” Rama said.
Through this comparison, Rama sought to underline the importance of involving EU candidate countries in European discussions and decision-making processes, rather than leaving them outside until all membership conditions and reforms have been fulfilled.
Ursula von der Leyen, who has served as President of the European Commission since 2019, has seven children with her husband, Heiko von der Leyen. Before taking the helm of the EU executive, she held several ministerial positions in Germany, including Minister of Family Affairs, Minister of Labour and Minister of Defence.
