Honourable Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers, Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

I am deeply honoured to be able to bid you farewell in this most prestigious place, and I would like to thank the Prime Minister for having made this possible.

I learnt to love so much Albania in these 4 years.

But my relationship with your country has actually started years before I joined the country as EU Ambassador. There is one date that I would like to mention in this regard: the 15 December 2010.

For Albanians, this was the first day they could travel to the EU without a visa. For me as EU senior official, this was the successful outcome of several years of intense work together with the Albanian authorities to make this happen. I will always remember the emotions of the first 50 young and older Albanians passengers entering the EU without visa in Brussels at midnight on 15 December 2010. Albania was slowly but surely becoming part of the European family.

I arrived in Albania as EU Ambassador exactly three years and seven months ago.

But it feels so much, much longer. We have gone through so much together.

I came here with the clear brief to take forward the EU accession process.

A big part of my work as EU Ambassador turned out to be about crisis response.

When the earthquake hit so heavily Albania, the EU Delegation and the whole EU responded rapidly to provide immediate relief and to mobilise worldwide support for the reconstruction.

The memories of the long days spent on the ground in the affected areas to bring our concrete solidarity to the people suffering so much will stay with me forever.

Then the reconstruction started. You all remember the extraordinary results of the Donors Conference organised by the EU in Brussels on 17 February 2020.

As EU, we decided to focus on education and culture, by rebuilding schools and cultural sites, as a lasting investment in Albania’s future. Yesterday, I inaugurated yet another school in Kullë (Durrës). I am so proud to have been able to make this a reality for so many children and their families.

Again allow me to repeat the words of President von der Leyen during her visit last September, when she wished to have been able to put her own children in one of the reconstructed schools.

We built back better and, most importantly, we did it together with the local communities and authorities!

When the COVID pandemic hit us – again, without advance notice – the EU stood, again, firmly by Albania’s side, despite a difficult start. We were there to provide emergency medical equipment vaccine doses to Albania, as part of Team Europe.

We were there to help Albania navigate the severe economic and social consequences of the pandemic, with around EUR 250 million in grants and financing.

Today, we are facing a new major crisis, the third shock hitting Albania, following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU and Albania with our US and other partners are very much united in this unprecedented situation.

Albania has acted in unison with EU and allies in condemning Russia’s invasion and has fully aligned with EU sanctions. Building upon its OSCE chairmanship, and now as member of the UN Security Council, Albania is a key partner in handling this international crisis.

Like EU countries, Albania is welcoming and protecting refugees from Ukraine.

The last crisis puts all of us in front of unprecedented challenges, in terms of security, but also due to the fast rising prices of food, energy and other commodities, which are already hitting hard many Albanian people.

Let me say one thing: the EU stood in solidarity with Albania in past difficult times and it will not be different this time.

No later than last night, the EU Heads of States and Government have decided in Brussels that the platform that will be created for EU Member States for common purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen will be open to the Western Balkans countries, helping therefore to dampen prices.

My firm belief is that the crises of the last years have only tightened the bonds between us, between the EU and Albania. These crises have reminded us that solidarity is at the core of the European Union’s values.

This was the core message of former European Parliament President David Sassoli, who left us too early and for whom Albania was of great importance.

In this challenging context marked by crises, I rapidly realised that my priority as Ambassador would have been to reach out to as many Albanian people, throughout the country, to show that “Europe is Here” for Albania, and that EU integration is happening every day, thanks to the massive investments made by the EU and its Member States on the ground.

I have travelled thousands of kilometres from North to South, I have visited 57 out of the 61 municipalities that Albania counts. These exchanges have been so precious to better understand Albanian people’s concerns, the concrete problems they face, but also their dreams and hopes.

I have found that Albanian people are pretty clear and consistent about their expectations for their country’s future. They want to see their country in the European Union. They want their country to get rid of corruption at all levels, and they demand better-paid jobs and a clean environment.

During my time as Ambassador, Albania has made a big leap in its process towards the European Union. Albania has clearly delivered all that the EU had been asking for, putting an enormous effort in it. As a consequence, in March 2020, the European Council decided to open negotiations with Albania. This was a historic decision.

I am confident that I am leaving the country on the eve of the actual start of negotiations, possibly in June this year. As EU High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell stressed during his visit to Tirana last week, it is now more than ever time to start the talks, in a context where Europe’s stability and security is under threat due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Over the last years, the transformative power of the EU accession process has been evident in a number of areas. Let me mention a few.

The justice reform has made progress. We are now talking about consolidation of justice institutions. Based on my own past experience, I am well aware that such transformations takes time. But let’s look at where we are: new justice institutions are in place and gaining maturity, the vetting process will continue, while last week another judge of the Constitutional Court has been appointed. It is not going as fast as the Albanian people deserve, important challenges remain, but is consolidating, and this is very important.

On the fight against corruption and organised crime, we are starting to see some concrete results. Efforts to build a solid track record need to continue. On organised crime, Albanian law enforcement are increasingly involved in international joint investigations and police operations.

As regards economic development, there have been continuous efforts to address the structural weaknesses of the Albanian economy and increase its competitiveness. The EU is continuing its support in this area.

To name only another recent example, a few days ago the European Commission adopted the IPARD III programme for Albania. It will make available EUR 112 million over the next 7 years for the modernisation of the Albanian agriculture. Again, Europe is Here.

Through the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, the EU is supporting Albania’s green and digital transition. For instance, we are supporting Albania’s efforts to diversify its energy sources and reduce its overreliance on hydropower, for instance through the financing of the floating solar power plant in the Vau I Dejës reservoir. These projects have become all the more urgent in the wake of the current energy price crisis.

Looking ahead, I am convinced that the start of EU accession talks will represent the trigger for Albanian institutions to shift gear and accelerate fundamental reforms. In my view, Albania will have an opportunity to catch up with the accession frontrunners.

This will require strong political resolve, across the political spectrum. This will also require a massive mobilisation of Albania’s EU integration structures and overall public administration.

Each one of you present in this room has a responsibility and a role to play in this historic process of bringing Albania into the EU. Whatever your function, you can make a difference.

The overarching priority of EU integration, shared by all political forces in the country, should be in my view the trigger to aim at more togetherness and political cooperation in the Albanian political debate.

You owe this in particular to the youth of this country, which represents its future. For having met many young Albanians across the country in the last three and half years, I have seen for myself that Albania’s youth concentrates an immense potential, energy, and a strong willingness to build a better country for their own future. I say this in the very European capital of youth. They should find the future they want in their homeland, as part of the European Union.

I would like to conclude by thanking all of you wholeheartedly for your collaboration over the last years. I am very proud of what we have achieved together.

Until the arrival of a new Ambassador most likely in September, the EU Delegation will continue to be by your side, and Alexis Hupin, which many of you know already well, will be our chargé d’affaires. I wish him good luck during this transition period.

Finally, I would also like to extend my special thanks to my colleagues Ambassadors representing our EU Member States for their trust and close cooperation over the last years. I leave Albania with an important satisfaction: Team Europe is a strong reality in Albania.  

Prime Minister Rama has often teased me in our public and private meetings that it is long time Albania has been waiting for the bride to come to the altar. I think that Team Europe is your bride and is here well present. The rings are ready, are being polished for the event.  

Evropa është këtu sepse këtu është Evropa - Europa is Here because here is Europe.

To paraphrase a proverb from Ireland, a country like that has greatly benefited from EU integration, “you can take me out of Albania but you can’t take Albania out of me”.

I often say that I am Neapolitan when I am in my native country Italy, that I am Italian when I am in the EU, and that I am European when I am in the wider world community. I hope you will allow me to think from now that as a European I would be entitled to feel myself also a little bit Albanian. 

I wish you and your beloved ones health and happiness. Eeke and I will miss Albania and the Albanian people very much.

Faleminderit shume!  Mirupafshim!