Enkeleda Baduni Mërkuri: History has shown us and continues to show us that peoples, nations and states can coexist together if they share the same typology of values. Moreover, European civilization is the product of a phenomenon of contamination and learning from other cultures different from ours

 Ioana Cristea Drăgulin: It has al­ready been a year since you moved to Romania. What are your first impres­sions? What were the positive sur­prises and the difficulties you en­countered?

Enkeleda Baduni Mërkuri: During my 25-year career in diplomacy, for a long period, I have been engaged in regional cooperation. With the ap­pointment in Bucharest, in December of 2023, after several years of working in Central Europe, I felt like I was “returning home”. It seemed very familiar to me, and I can even say that I have missed the region. After the

first 3-4 weeks, as soon as I settled in my new place of residence, I felt very good. The high intensity of meetings, activities, visits, and numerous dele­gations between the two capitals made time fly by very quickly. I can’t be­lieve it has been a year and a half al­ready…

“Although I have been to Bucharest 2-3 times in the early 2000s to partici­pate in mainly regional activities and events, I still have to emphasise that Bucharest surprised me and won me over from the first month as a city full of life and with wonderful environ­ments. You will undoubtedly agree with me that Herastrau Lake is one of the most relaxing and attractive places in the city.  Same with Calea Victoriei, not only for its wonderful history and architecture but also for those nice promenades. Then the Pal­ace of Parliament, with all the sur­rounding infrastructure, including the Old Town with its rich cultural herit­age. Likewise, the numerous parks around the city that give Bucharest a special beauty and charm”.

In the professional context, my arrival in Bucharest coincided with a very important moment in the framework of our bilateral relations. The year 2023 constitutes a milestone in the bilateral context, as it marked the 110th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In 2024, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the opening of the embassies and the 30^th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship. In this context, despite the fact that 2024 was a busy electoral year, in the bilateral frame­work, the dynamic of visits, contacts and exchanges was maintained in various dimensions and sectors of mutual interest, such as parliamentary and diplomatic ones, in the fields of justice, security and internal affairs, education and science, and tourism, as well as academic and cultural ones.

The relations between our two coun­tries have expanded and deepened day by day, where the political dialogue remains intense and of a high level. It is enough to mention here all the meetings held during the official visit of the Minister for Europe and For­eign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Igli Hasani, to Bucharest on 4-5 June 2024,  where the common political will was reaffirmed at the level of the former President, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, at the Parliamentary level, by the head of the Foreign Pol­icy Committee of the Senate of Romania, Mr. Titus Corlatean; at the government level, undoubtedly by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Luminița Odobescu, as well as various ministers, one of the Interior, the other of Labour and Social Affairs, etc. We are currently paying special attention to the economic dimension, which currently continues to not be far from our expectations, as well as the opportunities and capacities offered by our two countries.

1. C. D.: The embassy, for each coun­try, represents an interface with a new reality. Please tell us about the priori­ties of your mandate in terms of strengthening relations between our countries.
2. B. M.: I felt very honoured and privileged for the trust and apprecia­tion that the Albanian government has placed in me to represent my country in Romania, assessing it as a mission of particular importance in a friendly and important partner country, as well as with the same regional affiliation.

Likewise, from a specific historical background of the relations between the two countries: Romania occupies a special place in the group of friendly countries of Albania, as the first country to recognise the independence of Albania, with which we have deep historical roots, where we have a dias­pora, one of the oldest and with great patriotic activity; where our national anthem was composed; where the first Albanian language primer was pub­lished; where many Albanian associa­tions flourished, with publications of newspapers and periodicals. In this context, many prominent Albanian personalities stood out.

With this rich heritage, even today, coming into the last three decades, bilateral relations develop on the basis of a solid foundation, such as the Treaty of Understanding, Cooperation and Good Neighbourliness between Romania and the Republic of Albania, signed on May 11, 1994, and entered into force on April 26, 1995.

Over the years, Albanian-Romanian bilateral relations have always been important. Albania considers Romania as a strong NATO ally and a partner country in its journey towards EU integration. Strengthening our rela­tions, intensifying our political dia­logue and further increasing bilateral cooperation with Romania remain among the priorities of Albania’s re­gional foreign policy. Albania contin­ues to work closely with Romania within international and regional or­ganisations on issues of concern to the region, our continent and beyond.

The Action Plan for 2024-2025, signed by the foreign ministers in No­vember 2023, during the visit of the former  minister Odobescu to Tirana, is a document that commits our coun­tries to increase not only political di­alogue but also sectoral cooperation in order to advance the bilateral agenda in areas such as education, culture, energy, tourism, infrastructure, etc. During 2024, an important agreement was signed in the field of social pro­tection/pension, which will directly affect and benefit our citizens, and a MoU, on diplomatic training between the two MFAs. In the meantime, we are negotiating to finalise agreements in the fields of education and culture and energy and agriculture, as well as an action plan between our two min­istries of health.

I would like to share with you the very positive trend of the tourism sector. With the establishment of direct flights between Tirana and Bucharest, during 2023 the number of tourists coming from Romania increased by 62%, and during the past year, 2024, it increased by 170%. We are commit­ted to strengthening this spirit of co­operation in other sectors as well, with the belief that tourist exchanges will also influence the increase of interest in exploring Albania more as a desti­nation of interest to increase trade – economic, scientific – academic, cul­tural exchanges, etc.

1. C. D.: What are, in your opinion, the main cultural differences as well as similarities between Romania and Albania? 

1. B. M.: Referring also to what was mentioned above, I would like to fo­cus more in my answer on the second part of the question, namely on the multiple similarities and connections that have brought our two countries closer and continue to do so today, which are undoubtedly much larger than those that may be different be­tween us.

Albanian-Romanian relations consti­tute a beautiful and rich history, start­ing from the Thracians, Dacians and Illyrians, who had a similar vocabu­lary and traditions, and fate continues to bring us together in the course of history with more recent events that shaped us as peoples.

There were important figures in the political and cultural field of Romania, such as Nicolae Iorga and Ciprian Porumbescu, who participated in these historical moments, as well as those in the political and social field of Albania, such as Vasile Lupu, Viktor Eftimiu, and the Gjika family, but also Aromanians who furthered these rela­tions, such as Gujdu Emanuel, Papahagi, Caramitru and others.

The well-known Romanian historian N. Iorga considers Albanians in his work as descendants of the Illyrians who were influenced by the Thracian language. The highlighting and clari­fication of the origin of the common linguistic features of Albanian and Romanian is also related to the prob­lem of the ethnogenesis (origin) of the two respective peoples. But today it is a fact that there are some similarities and old parallels between the Roma­nian and Albanian languages. As a result of these close relations in con­tact, it is thought that a common spir­itual constitution was also conceived that was expressed in language, cus­toms, rites, ways of singing and, un­doubtedly, in phraseological expres­sions and proverbs.

Following on what I mentioned above, I would like to highlight with pleasure that the national anthem of Albania was composed by the great Romanian musician Ciprian Porumbescu and that the Movement for the Declaration of Independence of Albania led by Ismail Qemali be­gan in Bucharest. Romania was not only the first country to recognise Albania but also offered the first budget for the new Albanian state in 1912.

The old Albanian diaspora in Romania constitutes one of the most important settlements, which partici­pated in the birth of the Albanian state, and in the strengthening of the Albanian national movement, without which the renaissance of national feeling would not have been possible. Among the prominent figures of the early Albanian community, with par­ticular pride and pleasure, I would like to highlight the contribution of the Romanian princess of Albanian origin Elena Gjika, a historian, philologist, and ethnologist who helped the movement through her correspond­ence with the Albanian renaissance figures, as well as other important individuals who participated in those events, among whom was the philan­thropist Vangjel Zhapa, who financed the publication of the primer of Naum Veqilharxhi, who himself was also residing in Romania at that time.

With regards to Albanian-Romanian relations, various prominent historians have consistently described them as “the friendliest that Albanians have had in the course of modern history with neighbouring peoples and coun­tries in South-Eastern Europe, in gen­eral”, based on two connecting bridges: “the community of Albanians in Romania and the Aromanians in Albania”.

This spirit of friendship that comes from the past continued in modern history, as it is what has given Alba­nian-Romanian relations a new con­tent and a new dimension, even due to the fact that both countries emerged from the era of communist dictator­ships, some of the most severe that Southern Europe has known.

All of this best evidences this kind of closeness between our two nations; in spite of the fact that they are not today neighbouring each other, the bridges of cooperation are such that they con­tinuously show this common contri­bution between our two peoples and countries.

Even at the beginning of this new century, Albania and Romania are very close to each other, in good and difficult times. It is important to men­tion that Albania received the invita­tion to join NATO at the Bucharest Summit in March 2008, together with Croatia, becoming a full member on April 1, 2009. Today, as two NATO allies, Albania and Romania share the same security concerns and invest in their defence, remaining committed to a comprehensive approach to interna­tional security, which we both believe is essential to addressing threats from all sides.

Romania has been and remains a strong supporter and advocate of ac­celerating Albania’s EU integration processes. We are working closely with Romanian experts and civil serv­ants to support with technical assis­tance the negotiation process that Albania has begun with the European Union.

1. C. D.: The Republic of Albania has embarked on the path of integration into the European Union. What are the priorities of the Albanian state in this area, and what role could Romania play in supporting you?
2. B. M.: At all political levels in Albania, it has been repeatedly em­phasised that for us, EU membership is much more than a political ambi­tion; it constitutes an existential life choice.

Currently, Albania, which is at an important stage of the integration pro­cesses, such as the opening of negoti­ations with Brussels, is reliably on the path towards membership in the European Union. In just eight months, Albania has opened negotiations for 27 areas. The fourth Intergovernmen­tal Conference was held on April 14 in Luxembourg, where the group chapter on the internal market was opened.

Meanwhile, just a few days ago, on June 11, Albania received the green light to open negotiations with Group Chapter 4 – “Green Agenda and Sus­tainable Connectivity”, as an im­portant group chapter, which specifi­cally includes transport, energy, trans-European networks and environment and climate. This decision by the EU countries confirms our preparation and concrete progress on the path towards the European family.

The Albanian government aims to open all chapters by 2025 and con­clude negotiations by 2027, with the aim of Albania becoming a full mem­ber of the EU in 2030.

Progress in key areas such as the rule of law, democratic governance and public administration has created a solid foundation for the progress we have achieved in this process. We remain committed to accelerating these reforms, particularly in the areas of integrity and justice, economic modernisation and institutional strengthening. While the process itself is demanding, it offers a transforma­tive framework for the modernisation of the institutions of our economy, as well as the building of a resilient democratic society.

Of course, no progress to date, in­cluding the official start of Albania’s EU accession negotiations in July 2019, would have been possible with­out the positive national stance of friendly countries and supportive European partners, among which Romania has played an active role. Politically, Albania relies on Roma­nia’s help and unwavering support in the future in the Council, while we are grateful for the lobbying made to­wards maintaining the EU’s priorities of the enlargement package, as well as for accelerating the integration pro­cesses of the Western Balkan coun­tries, including Albania.

With the opening of the above-men­tioned group chapters, technically, we hope to cooperate closely with Roma­nian experts and civil servants to sup­port our process with technical assis­tance, transferring expertise and know-how in many areas

We are on a good path with several institutions, which also include certain committees of the Romanian Senate, such as the Committee on Laws or the Committee on Culture, Foreign Pol­icy, etc. We are also in close commu­nication with the Romanian MFA and other institutions to determine at the level of your administration where the greatest interest is in contributing to the negotiation and integration process of Albania into the EU, from the per­spective of your national development cooperation. We have currently ex­changed concrete suggestions and proposals at the level of the ministries of agriculture, education and science, justice and internal affairs, without forgetting academic institutions as well.

1. C. D.: The image of the two coun­tries is often closely associated with their own past. In your opinion, is our heritage a burden or a resource for the future? 
2. B. M.:: Without wishing to repeat what I have expressed above, I would just like to underline the fact that the ties between our countries are based on a strong traditio where history merges with a common cultural herit­age and close interpersonal ties, also included through the lens of our re­lated minorities that create solid bridges between our countries, beyond geographical considerations.

Romania has a long historical, tradi­tional and friendly relationship with Albania, with a strong contribution to the deep common historical roots and with an active role of the Albanian diaspora. Today, friendship and mu­tual respect are defining elements for the deepening of our political and economic ties, promoting bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest that enrich the common Ro­manian-Albanian heritage every day. This has been and remains a source of constant inspiration for the genera­tions that are growing up, with the desire to know each other better, to create new bridges of connection, communication and cooperation. In this context, this heritage cannot be a burden at all. On the contrary, it is a great asset that feeds the desire to bring our peoples and countries even closer every day.

History has taught us that by getting to know each other better and only by multiplying the “connecting threads” of communication and cooperation, we narrow the spaces for prejudices, stereotypes or misunderstandings.
Especially today, when successive crises and global challenges call into question many things that have been good for us for many decades, it is imperative, more than ever, to under­stand and utilise our entire bilateral, regional and global arsenal to be on the right side of history and to find the right solutions to face these challenges in defence of the rights of our citizens and for a better and safer future for our children and families.

1. C. D.: Romania and Albania are countries that have had very strong historical and cultural ties in recent centuries. As is known, culture has the ability to act as a bond between civili­zations. What is the status of bilateral cultural relations and cooperation? In what direction should it head, and how should it be expanded?

1. B. M.: An important dimension in all the historical wealth inherited from the strong and close relations between our two countries is dedicated to cul­tural exchanges as a free space for expressing closeness, feelings, thoughts and the voice of the soul. The fate of the two nations has willed that our peoples have had many meeting points at certain moments in the history of the two countries, meeting points that have left their mark and enriched the cultural ex­changes between our peoples.

I have mentioned above that promi­nent names in the artistic and cultural life have contributed to both our countries in the fields of literature, music, painting, ethnography, linguis­tics, and archaeology. Prominent names, contributors in these fields, have left behind numerous works, written in both languages, as an ex­traordinary wealth that once again proves the closeness, similarities and diverse and very rich national identity of our two countries. It is enough to mention here a remarkable constella­tion of well-known Albanian figures, such as Lasgush Poradeci, Mitrush Kuteli, Ibrahim Temo, Elena Gjika, Victor Eftimiu, Nikolla Naço, and Gjon Mili, who have contributed to both countries over the years, from the end of the 19th century to the present day.

Nowadays, among the many artists and creators who debut in various cultural fields, I would briefly men­tion the contribution of the Kycyku family: the father – Professor Kopi Kycyku and son – Dr. Ardian Kycyku; as a concrete contribution towards the „inseparable literary ties between Albania and Romania”. Through the European literary publication Haemus, (whose archive now has over 7,000 pages of publications and ex­cerpts from the works of over 300 European writers, thinkers and intel­lectuals and beyond), both father and son have brought to the Albanian and Romanian public numerous authors from both countries; classics and contemporary, thus creating a literary platform without borders for conver­sation between our two peoples.

All this spiritual and cultural wealth has been preserved in the funds of important institutions, such as national libraries, in the golden music fund, and art galleries, being the focus of researchers in the relevant fields and of educational programmes for the new generation.

With a common political will, today we are coordinating with our Roma­nian colleagues in further enriching the bilateral legal framework in order to create further expansion and deep­ening of cooperation and exchanges in the field of culture and cultural herit­age by initiating new cooperation protocols between the ministries of culture and education, in light of the new regional and European context. Similarly, a series of other acts of cooperation have been initiated be­tween museums, theatres, publishing houses, archaeological parks, media, and public and private radio and tele­vision. With an open spirit of cooper­ation, we are working to channel these exchanges and collaborations towards the establishment of new cultural in­stitutions (cultural centres or insti­tutes) focused on the promotion and advancement of national cultural, lit­erary and artistic values, as well as activities aimed at deepening Alba­nian-Romanian ties, further strength­ening all shared values, and preserv­ing and enriching the artistic and cul­tural diversity in both countries.

Undoubtedly, all this commitment will create the right environment to further activate exchanges in every cell of artistic life between the two countries and to further recognise and enhance the spirit and cultural wealth between Albania and Romania.

Interviu realizat de Ioana CRISTEA DRĂGULIN