Former Minister of State and Governance Standards, Milva Ekonomi, sat down in the "Off the Record" studio to face the numbers, which it must be said are stubborn, regarding the emigration of Albanians during the Socialist Party's government.
Moderator Andrea Danglli told Ikonomi whether it is correct to ask Albanians for votes by promising them a European passport in 2030, at a time when official figures show that 6,500 citizens have abandoned our country's passport in the last 10 years and 429,000 others have emigrated from 2011 to 2023.
The socialist MP responded by saying that citizens cannot be deprived of freedom of movement.
"The moment you become part of the EU, you have a European passport that gives you a better understanding of the four freedoms you have. The freedom of movement of people, capital, services and investments. Albania becomes a country equal to the others. Will these Albanians be the ones who will move, or will they be Italians and Dutch who will come. This is something that we will see together in time," said Ekonomi on "Off the Record" by Andrea Danglli, on A2 CNN.
Regarding the abandonment of citizenship by our compatriots, Ekonomi said that in some cases they are forced to do so by the rules in the countries where they have relocated and built their lives.
"Because the country where you immigrated, and you will become a citizen because you have fulfilled the conditions, you have paid your taxes correctly, you have lived there for so many years, etc... you know the rules, you will receive citizenship. There are some countries that do not allow dual citizenship, such as Germany and Austria," she explained on "Off the Record" by Andrea Danglli, on A2 CNN.
Asked further if the promise of EU membership, which Prime Minister Rama and the Socialists are seeking votes for in the May 11 elections, will result in Albanians leaving, Ekonomi said: "No, no, you need to know something, net migration, what you need to do carefully is the history between the two Censuses. We have the 2001-2011 and 2011-2023 Censuses, the way Albanians left was 47-48 thousand Albanians (net migration) moving every year. In the second period, net migration is 41 thousand Albanians moving every year. Those numbers are almost the same for both periods. This shows that even with an EU passport, the right to decide where you live is a European right. You can still have people moving for work, just as you will have foreigners coming to live in Albania."
(A2 Televizion)
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