Exclusive interview for ARGUMENTUM.al with the President of the Freedom Party, Mr. Ilir Meta
By Marjana DODA
The president of the Freedom Party, Mr. Ilir Meta, in an exclusive interview for Argumentum.al, reveals the priority of this Party, its foreign policy, regional geopolitical challenges, and his personal challenges.
“We believe that it is TIME itself that requires that the political parties are constantly improving and changing themselves to meet the challenges of a very intense political competition,” said Meta, while talking about the recently held national convention of the Freedom Party and five priorities that were approved in this convention by this political force.
Regarding the challenges of Albania in particular and the region in general, the President of the Freedom Party, Mr. Meta, says that: “Albania should be a contributor of security and development to the region, and not a consumer as such. We need to lose no time with models that have failed in the past and have not created sound states based on the European values of democracy, market economy, and sound, transparent security. Getting closer to the EU through reforms and enhancing our security contributions to NATO are the right paths to take to meet the challenges in the country and beyond.
Asked about the foreign policy of this political force, but also about the declarative support to the Macedonian party VMRO-DPMNE, Mr. Meta answers: The Freedom Party has a very clear agenda for the region. It is the agenda of stability through democracy and development; it is the agenda of EU values and integration. It is not the agenda of autocracy, of occult agreements for the sake of ensuring personal gains and power. We support good neighborly relations with all countries bilaterally and all multilateral efforts that bring the region closer to the EU.
Regarding my public statements in favor of VMRO-DPMNE, I believe VMRO-DPMNE is a force that has done a lot to develop North Macedonia. I also appreciate its clear vision in the region, especially its opposition to ideas like “Open Balkans,” which were intended to divert the EU integration processes in the region. Their result in the current elections reflects that such ideologies that destroy the very core of our societies are not acceptable to the people, by and large.
As for the public statements regarding his possible arrest or that Ilir Meta may be declared non-grata, he says that such statements serve the government to create “concerted truths” with the sole aim of discouraging the opposition and the people who want to see a change of governance in Albania.
“It is not Ilir Meta worried for himself, but for millions of Albanians who have no judicial or life security in Albania and, therefore, chose to leave the country. This has to change, and it WILL change soon”, emphasizes Mr. Meta in the following interview;
Argumentum.al: On April 27th, the National Convention of the Freedom Party was held, which you Mr. Meta have called as the re-establishment of the party. A development that attracted attention to a certain extent, starting with the fact that this forum is the second in two years, after the fundamental changes in 2022, where the Socialist Integration Movement was transformed into the Freedom Party. Who “threatened the Freedom Party”? Why was this “re-establishment” of it necessary?
Mr. Ilir Meta: We believe that it is the TIME itself that requires that the political parties are constantly improving and changing themselves, to meet the challenges of a very intense political competition. Besides, the condition of democracy, economy and the social wellbeing of the country is deteriorating rapidly. The Freedom Party is aware of these challenges, therefore, its Convention aimed at sharpening its top policy priorities, as well as becoming more agile in its operational capacity. Therefore, the Convention focused on the 5 policy priorities and the statutory amendments.
–Mr. Meta, at the Freedom Party convention, five priorities were elaborated as the main pillars of this party, can you talk briefly about each of them?
There are five priorities with the purpose of achieving the overall goal of the increasing the population of Albania to over 4 million Albanians.
More specifically, the 5 priorities are: Stop depopulation of the country, Raising pensions and salaries, Investing in education and the human capital, Development of Agriculture and Food with the purpose of Lowering the cost of living, and, finally, Transform the economic model of the country to turn Albania into an exporting nation.
Priority 1, Stopping depopulation, has in its core a whole package to help new families to have a home and the provision of progressive amount of monetary support for each child born.
There is a wholelist of measures to this purpose, among others: salaries for expecting mothers in the amount of 70-100% of the salary for 2 years after birth; home purchase loan with subsidized interest; free support with food and essential nutritional supplements for pregnant women of families in a state of poverty and unemployment; reduction of infant and maternal mortality in childbirth by improving care for mother and child; guarantee by the state of free food and nutritional supplements for up to one year for children born in poor and unemployed families; free full coverage of all drugs, including those that are not part of the List of Reimbursable Drugs for mothers and newborn children for one year and one year old; payment of Caregivers during pregnancy; and catering system in kindergartens and schools among others; and many others.
Priority 2, Raising of pensions and salaries, deals with the urgent necessity of very lowlevels of pensions and salaries compared to the region, at the time that the cost of living is higher. Among the measures there are: doubling of teachers’ and doctors’ salaries; payment of unpaid compensation as a result of indexation; doubling of pensions; reimbursement of medicines; increase of the minimum pension to the level of 50% of the minimum wage from 23% that is today.
Priority 3, Investment in education and in humancapital intends at making a quality change in our educational system and qualification of the work-force. Among others: Doubling the budget for education, scientific research and innovation. Education and investment in the human capital is considered the cornerstone of the priorities. For this purpose, the level of budgeting for education and innovation will be above the average of EU countries. Investment in education and scientific research will be at the level of 5% of GDP. Teaching will be considered a priority branch and will be accompanied by financial support for students and teachers. Innovation in Albania will be financed above the European Union average. Technology and information branches will be treated with priority investments.
Priority 4, Agriculture and food. Reducing the cost of living. This priority aims at lowering the cost of food and creating a more substantial contribution to the GDP by agriculture and food-processing industry as well as supporting agricultural households by direct support for the agricultural inputs and produce. Some of the main measures are: supporting livestock with direct payments per head and production unit, to quadruple the number of heads and local production; full subsidy of agro-processing; food security guarantee PL will support agriculture in a value of about 30 billion Lek every year; land ownership certificates will be issued; agricultural production will be subsidized per unit of production, area and number of heads; soft loans will be granted for infrastructure, greenhouses, stables, for the agro-processing industry; provision of state land for agro-processing activities; automatic deduction of the VAT payment for agricultural inputs (chemical fertilizers, seedlings, seeds, oil), for refunds and subsidies; subsidy of agricultural production per unit of production, area and number of heads.
And last, but by no means the least, Priority 5 Albania, exporting power.
The aim is to guarantee the sustainable sources of growth, apart from construction industry and consumption which are the current drives with high risk to sustainability. Therefore, with these policies we intend to transform the economic model of the country. The main measures are: support of production and export activities to reach above the level of exports of 50% of GDP, with support in infrastructure (land, engineering networks, roads), freeing the administration from corruption and placing it at the service of investments and business, qualification of the workforce, exemption of means of production from fiscal obligations; reducing the cost of energy; rigorous collection of rent from mining, from the use of natural resources and the use of nature for business purposes, and its use for the salary and pension fund; support of production activities, as well as in the field of IT and innovation; the use of money confiscated from informality, corruption, illegal activities as well as incinerators and all contracts without public interest for the wage increase and the pension fund.
–According to a report from the UN, Albania risks having less than 1 million inhabitants in the year 2100, exactly as much as Albania was at the end of the Second World War. Why are the Albanians leaving? What are the real causes of this depopulation? Do you think there is an external depopulation agenda towards Albania?
The main objective of the 5 priorities of the Freedom Party is exactly to stop depopulation of Albania. Even compared with the countries of the region, the ratio of Albanians’ leaving their country is much much higher, 5-6 times higher. The reason is bad governance, disappointment with what was promised and what was delivered by the government, very high corruption, very high cost of living, and lack of policies to discourage depopulation. The Socialist government has endorsed depopulation as an ideological choice, to leave Albanians go abroad and bring people from different nationalities who do not vote and therefore can be no threat to the autocratic government in power in Albania.
–Mr. Meta, just a few days ago the prestigious American media Fox News, gave voice to one of your concerns that Russia seeks to “undermine European values and foundations” in the region. Do you have concrete evidence for this danger that threatens the region of the Western Balkans? What are the internal and external challenges of Albania today in front of global geopolitical changes?
I believe there is abundant evidence of such threats. Starting with the breaching of democratic values and introducing autocracy as a way of governance. To continue with corruption and money laundering, which is so evident in in Albania and some other countries of the region, make space for penetration of dangerous investments. The “Open Balkans”, itself was an attempt to create a format of cooperation among countries of the region which did not comply at all with the EU standards and norms as defined by the Berlin Process; the plans of exchanging the territories which were cherished by some leaders, create the conditions for conflict in the region, of which Russia is the beneficiary, the specific security and arms-purchase agreements signed by Serbia with Russia, etc., just to mention a few instances.
Albania should be a contributor of security and development to the region, and not a consumer as such. We need to lose no time with models that have failed in the past and have not created sound states based on the European values of democracy, market economy and sound, transparent security. Getting closer to the EU through reforms and enhancing our security contributions to NATO, are the right path to meet the challenges in the country and beyond.
–During your presidential term, Kosovo has been a red line that has clashed with the current government in Albania quite a few times, regarding the change of borders and the “Open Balkans” initiative. But today, as President of the Freedom Party, what is your attitude towards Kosova?
Kosova has achieved an admirable maturity in governance, in consolidating the state and integrating into the community of free and independent nations. I believe Kosova has a solid foundation in doing so, and that has to do with the capacity to organize free and fair elections, to combat corruption and endorse sincerely the Western values, as a peace-loving nation. We strongly support Kosova in integrating further in the regional and international organizations. We want also to witness a more fruitful dialogue with Serbia, in equal footing, so that soon, there is recognition by Serbia of the reality that Kosova is an independent state and that there is no possibility of reversing this reality.
–While Kosovo has been in the political-media focus, it must be said that there is a “forgetfulness” for the Albanians in the Presheva Valley, who demand recognition and autonomy within Serbia. What do you think Albania should do concretely to support the Albanian community in the Presheva Valley?
In our region of the Balkans there is no possibility to create ethnically pure states. Any attempt in the past has ended with grave consequences. This is a lesson no one in the region should forget! Therefore, the ethnic minorities in the region, be it Presheva, or elsewhere, have only one way to ensure their rights: adopt European values, full respect for their rights in the states they live in, contribute to the EU integration of the states they live in so that they become European citizens sooner rather than later. At the same time, they should have the opportunity to exert unlimited exchanges with Kosova, Albania, Northern Macedonia, and all other countries where Albanians live in their own land. It is time to bring down the walls, to make borders irrelevant, not to build borders with walls.
–Considering the fact that Albania is a strategic point in the Balkans, does the Freedom Party have a regional political agenda and what is it?
The Freedom Party has a very clear agenda for the region. It is the agenda of stability through democracy and development, it is the agenda of EU values and integration. It is not the agenda of autocracy, of occult agreements for the sake of ensuring personal gains and power. We support good neighborly relations with all countries bilaterally and all multilateral efforts that bring the region closer to the EU. The current majority preached “zero” problems policy with the neighbors, but created problems with almost everyone, to the detriment of our national interests. Frequent problems were created even with Kosova and many of its leaders, as a result of paternalism, megalomania and wrong choices to resolve the pending problems Kosova faces today. Problems have been created and amplified with Greece, with which Rama has aggravated and failed to resolve important issues, like that of the maritime border. We intend to have a different approach to relations with Greece, as an EU partner country.
With Serbia, I was the first politician to meet with the late Serbian leader Djindjic and share with him the prospect of a new area in the relations between the two countries, that could have also a direct impact on the region. That shared vision has been reversed and deviated, creating also many unnecessary challenges for Kosova, instead of facilitating its integration in regional and international organizations.
With Turkey, regardless of the personalization that Edi Rama himself has made of relations with the current President there, it has been and remains a very important partner for Albania.
Turkey is an important country for Albania, but also for Albanians in our region.
Our relations with all political parties in Turkey will always be open. AKP, in particular is an political force that has made extraordinary contributions to the recognition of Kosovo, especially years ago, and has contributed to strengthening the multifaceted exchanges between Albania and Turkey.
It is a political force, important for the future as well. And we are convinced that Turkey will know how to orient itself in the European direction, where the great Atatürk laid the foundations.
–Mr. Meta, your public support for VMRO-DPMNE has been received with surprise here and across the border. What unites you with this Macedonian political party?
There is nothing suspicious in my public statements. I have already cleared that publicly myself. I believe VMRO-DPMNE is a force that has done a lot to develop Northern Macedonia. I appreciate also its clear vision in the region, esp. with regard to opposition to such ideas as “Open Balkans” which were intended to divert the EU integration processes in the region. Besides, they have been very clear withstanding ideologies that compromise the very existence of the most important cell of our societies, the family. Their result in the current elections is a reflection that such ideologies that destroy the very core of our societies are not acceptable by the people, by and large.
–I recall that the former leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Gruevski was declared non-grata by the USA, while his party is today the winner of the double elections in North Macedonia. Starting from the internal political chaos that involved the DP after the announcement of Mr. Berisha’s non-grata and the electoral skepticism. Can we say that the victory of VMRO-DPMNE in Macedonia is a green light for the Albanian opposition and that a party can return to power, even though with a “blemish”?
One thing we have learned from the most important allies of our countries, the USA, is that elections reflect the will and the expectations of the people. The task of the political system is to ensure that their will is justly and fairly represented in the electoral choices made by the people.
The people in Albania, are fully aware that the policies of the current government are detrimental to the country, to its democracy and economy, to the family and to the society as a whole. That is why they have chosen to leave the country by the thousands. I am sure the Albanian voters will make mature choices to bring about change, as they did in Northern Macedonia.
–It has been a year since Albania has had a direct conflict with Greece, regarding the Beleri issue. Just recently, the prime minister of Albania was not “rightfully welcomed” by his Greek counterpart in the meeting that took place with the Albanian diaspora in Athens. What do you think about this tension between Albania and Greece? Could it be an obstacle to the European path of this country?
Beleri issue is not a conflict of Albania with Greece, and there are no “tensions” as such between the two countries, but rather, a situation fermented by Rama’s control of the justice system, which has produced court proceeding with many violations of the Code of Procedures. These “tensions” would not exist if the judiciary was not that obedient to Rama.
–Do you and the Freedom Party have a concrete plan for the Albanian diaspora, since we are the only region that still has not been granted the right to vote to thousands of Albanian migrants?
My party and its predecessor was the first to have a policy for the inclusion of the emigrants and diaspora in the general suffrage processes. Unfortunately, the two bigger parties have considered this issue as a matter of political rhetoric, rather than a fundamental right of the Albanians living abroad. We believe it is a matter that is long overdue.Very soon 1/3 of our National Leading Committee will be represented by Diaspora. And also 1/3 of candidates for Parliament in upcoming elections.
–Let’s go back to internal politics. There is a mediatic perception, starting from your public discourse, that you, as the former President of Albania and President of a political party in Albania, are attacking SPAK, a justice institution supported by the USA and the EU. What is the truth of Ilir Meta? Who is attacking who?
What happened in Albania is that a much needed judicial reform, which I personally helped acquire full support as Speaker of Parliament, soon deteriorated as a process controlled by Rama to have political control and gains. That’s the reason I call it Ramaforma.
He controlled the entire vetting process and has done it according to his pleasure. Therefore, justice in the country is in a catastrophic situation!
The clear intention was to have justice in the pocket, that we got Prosecutor Office with Arta Marku elected with 69 votes instead of 84, we got all the investigation institutions of justice, with High Prosecution Council, Special Prosecution SPAK., all of them fully controlled. High profile cases with public and factual knowledge of the crimes committed have not been investigated since people close to Rama happen to be involved.
Therefore, I want to say once again that our commitment is to return the reform to the tracks of the Constitution.
Justice belongs to the people, because sovereignty here belongs to the people. And from the lack of justice, a whole people is suffering. And it is the lack of justice, deliberately concentrated that has encouraged depopulation.
–Finally, Mr. Meta, allow me to ask you directly about what is trumpeted quite often in the Albanian media. “Ilir Meta will be declared “non grata” soon”. “Ilir Meta will be arrested soon by SPAK”. It is this phrase that has filled the headlines of various media in Albania. Is Ilir Meta worried by these public media “projections”? What is the future projection of Ilir Meta for Ilir Meta?
The very fact that such statements find their way to the media, is a testimony in itself that we have a serious problem with the judiciary system and what is allegedly freemedia. It is a product of what I explained above, of the judiciary under the control of Rama. Such statements serve to the government to create “concerted truths” with the sole aim at discouraging the opposition and the people who want to see a change of governance in Albania. The reality has proven them very wrong, so it will in the future. It is not Ilir Metaj worried for himself, but for millions of Albanians who have no judicial or life security in Albania, and therefore, chose to leave the country. This has to change and it WILL change soon.
The real problem is when Ilir Meta may publish a list of “non-grata” that want to undermine the sovereignty of the country and turn it in a hub for international mafia .
You know very well that in all debates between President Ilir Meta and Rama’s Parliament fully controlled always Venice Commission side with the President.
-Mr. Meta, a recent survey conducted by IRI, the International Republican Institute, shows that although the Prime Minister and the government are seen as the main responsible for corruption, support for the opposition remains low.
In January 2013, a survey paid for by the Soros Foundation in Tirana showed the L.S.I. with 1%, but five months later it garnered 14% of the votes. Meanwhile, an IRI survey conducted nine months prior in North Macedonia showed Mr. Mickovski with 4% of the voters’ support, yet he triumphed with over 40% of the votes, almost securing an absolute majority. The time when Balkan citizens were influenced by biased surveys has ended. The will of the citizens will triumph in Albania, as it did in North Macedonia.
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