Kuko: Germany has helped Albania with 1.2 billion euros

Artur Kuko while being interviewed by DW 

 Interview with the Ambassador of Albania in Berlin, Artur Kuko, on the situation and potential in the expansion of bilateral relations between Albania and Germany.

Deutsche Welle: Mr. Ambassador, at the beginning of April in Tirana an agreement was signed for the recognition of the conversion of driving licenses, thanks to your commitment. The agreement signed in Tirana enters into force on June 1, 2022, while some countries have begun to recognize Albanian patents. Other countries, such as Berlin, have not yet begun the full recognition process. Does this mean that on June 1 it is certain that the recognition process will officially start?

It is more than certain that all countries, starting from June 1 of this year, will start with the recognition and conversion of Albanian patents. I emphasize it once again: only for those who meet the basic condition, that is, only those who are legal residents in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. The way it works is: The one who needs the conversion of the driving license is presented to the German authorities. Those who received the document after 2017 automatically convert it. Those who received it before 2017 will be subject to verification, after contacting the German authorities. The German authorities contact the Albanian authorities and authenticate the submitted documents.

Are other agreements expected to be signed between Albania and Germany?

I believe that with these agreements the legal framework of bilateral relations between our country and Germany is complete. In addition to the patent recognition agreement, in recent years the agreement on the recognition of social security and the recognition of the apostille stamp has been signed. It's all three elements that have a special impact on people's daily lives. Our job is to focus on filling the substance of this legal framework, in order to go beyond this very high level of political dialogue we have between Tirana and Berlin, but also between Tirana and the capitals of some German states.

You mentioned the political dialogue itself, which is at a high level. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was the first from the region to officially visit Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his new post. How much has the atmosphere of the relationship between Berlin and Tirana changed with the coming to power of Chancellor Scholz's government?

I would not say it has changed. The good news is that, although we have a new constellation leading Germany, the dedication remains the same. This is demonstrated by the fact that the European perspective and the efforts for the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU are embodied in the program of the Federal Government. In summary, Germany's position is that Albania has accumulated a critical mass of reforms that enable the opening of negotiations. We are talking only about opening negotiations and not about shortening procedures and closing our eyes to reforms in various areas of life.

The level of economic exchanges is not at the level of political dialogue. Does Albania have a concrete plan to involve the German investor more in its strategic investments?

It is evident that especially during the last two-three years that the pandemic has affected, in quantitative terms, the development of these relationships. I am optimistic that trade relations will continue to grow. Let us not forget and never get tired of noting that Germany has helped Albania with a sum of 1.2 billion euros. This is the money of the German taxpayer that has been given by Germany in the form of grants and loans to Albania, during these last thirty years. But our goal is to move beyond that. We aim to increase the level of trade relations, to increase economic relations in the private sector, in Albania, and I have the impression that within this year we will see developments of great interest for the Albanian economic life.

The pandemic showed that can be worked even remotely. Are there any investment plans in this regard?

Fortunately, Albania has a workforce or more precisely qualified work minds that offer contributions in the field of informatics. There is a project, which I believe we will see materialized in the coming months, that will aim to work on this platform. Do not take your eyes off Tirana and you will surely see concrete steps in this direction in the coming months.

Meanwhile, we have an increasing number of emigrants from Albania to Berlin. Many of them have come with families and are interested in teaching their children their mother tongue. What are you doing for the opening of Albanian schools?

There are developments in this regard, a good development comes in a joint form from Albania and Kosovo. It is the unification of the tests that serve for learning the Albanian language, there are some schools that are in the process of opening, not only in Berlin, but also in some other countries, and I am optimistic that with the dedication of local factors, whether from Albania or The Republic of Kosovo, and their commitment to promote Albanian, especially to the younger generation, with the support of Tirana and Pristina, we will see steps forward in this direction as well.

Albanology was born in Germany. In recent years there has been a series of great losses from the generation of old Albanologists of the German-speaking space. Meanwhile, the number of Albanians living in Germany is growing. Is not this a good opportunity to start a new initiative for the opening of a chair of Albanology in Germany?

Your finding is very fair. Unfortunately, we are losing day by day prominent representatives of Albanology coming from the German-speaking world. But Albanology is not extinguished. It remains a priority for both Albania and Kosovo. We also have a project here that is in its infancy with Humboldt University, and I predict that here too there will be further steps to promote Albanology..