An agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Regional Growth and Convergence Summit in Tirana between the College of Europe, the Ministry of Education, and the University of Tirana on the new campus of the College of Europe, which will open its doors in Tirana and will ensure and will guarantee complete operation of the College, starting this academic year until completion of the new campus.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Education and Sports Ogerta Manastirliu, the Rector of the University of Tirana, Artan Hoxha, and the Rector of the College of Europe, Federica Mogherini, at a ceremony also attended by Prime Minister Edi Rama, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood, Olivér Várhelyi.
The Rector of the College of Europe, Federica Mogherini, said in her remarks during the ceremony that a growing number of young people are already expressing an increasing interest in attending the College. “The new academic year will begin with 31 students and a master degree program on European transformation and integration, particularly focusing on the European Union and the Western Balkans. We opened the enrolment process in October and I can report that we have received as many as 241 applications for 31 students from 41 nationalities from the whole region, the European Union member states and from 15 countries from other regions,” Mogherini said.
The College of Europe opens up a new horizon of education for young Albanians and not only, as it takes the challenge for the internationalization of our universities to a new level, providing, among other things, the opportunity for a deeper learning about the European Union itself and the path towards it.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Frankly speaking, I wasn’t prepared to deliver a speech here. However, I would like just to share with each and every one of you my deepest gratitude to Federica, who is following the project step by step and, on the other hand, I can’t help but express my satisfaction at the fact that Federica is coming to the point where we can offer her the Albanian citizenship. It will be more than an honor to consider her as an Albanian citizen.
To expand on what the Commissioner said about the large number of young people from EU member states, who wish to come to Tirana, this probably shows that coming to Albania from the EU can be a way more exciting than going from EU to EU. That’s why I think we are seeing such a large number.
Last but not least, I would like to thank the EU delegation to Albania and Enlargement Commissioner Várhelyi, who has worked all the time to ensure that things in all fronts are done as tangible as possible and most feasible in the region and of course the arrival of the College of Europe makes us very happy, it makes us very proud. So we are making a lot of efforts to ensure that an iconic facility is built and have a genuine European education destination, not only in terms of the education and degree programs, but also in terms of the visual aspect, the spatial aspect and the quality of life for students, from the classrooms to the dormitories, even though young people sleep less and less in Tirana, because the leisure time is always more attractive, especially after midnight.
Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Olivér Várhelyi: I haven’t prepared any speech for this occasion, but I am really impressed with the figures. Basically, the figures mean that Tirana will become even more popular than Bruges campus and the weather is much better here. That’s why I think that what is about to be built, from an architectural point of view too, will be something that will also greatly change the economic life here in the Balkans. As you have already seen, most of the applications come from the EU itself. This shows the extraordinary added value that this institution will have, not only for the Balkans, but also for us in the European Union. This means that the EU has arrived in Tirana.