The University of Tirana today awarded the Honoris Causa Doctorate to Federica Mogherini.

Prime Minister Edi Rama attended and addressed the ceremony:

The truth is that I decided to attend this ceremony just to honor Federica as a precious friend of our country, as well as a special personal friend of mine and I actually told the Education Minister not to inform the University rector as I wished to attend this ceremony not in my capacity as Prime Minister, but like every other participant, since I didn’t want to time of the ceremony, yet this is what happens when you are taller than you should be and attract attention.

However, I would avail myself of this case to briefly address this ceremony. Federica definitely deserves a lot more than that.

Tirana University has made a very significant and praiseworthy gesture by conferring this title to Federica and by including her on the list of distinguished scholars and personalities that the rector already named and that have been honoured with the distinction of Doctor Honoris Causa.

If I were to single out Federica from that long list I would do so by taking notice of her personal and continued commitment to supporting Albania, to supporting our efforts to move faster on the European integration path, and supporting our need to have the right voices that used to help and are still helping us to present our arguments vis-à-vis what is the judge ruling on our daily work and progress, I mean Brussels, and certainly also by taking notice of her incredible commitment to peace, normalization and enhanced regional cooperation.

I believe that Federica is one of the most representative personalities of the European world to ever work and having to do with this region and our country, but she is one of few of them to accomplish her mission vis-à-vis us and the region by considering it something going beyond the mission.

She has accomplished her duties as an expression of a political passion and a civic drive, as a humble, courageous European, holding firm convictions through to the end about the benefit of the European Union and the necessity of a complete European Union with all the peoples of Europe as part of it.

I can speak a lot more about Federica and you know I don’t stand out for short speeches, but I would stop here, because I don’t really want to take more time of this meaningful ceremony and I would like to express Federica also the gratitude for everything she has done for Albania, for Albanians and the region and I would like to publicly state that Federica will be coming to Albania more frequently, now in her capacity as the director of the College of Europe, because we have actually hit the ground running for the College of Europe in Tirana, which will be the third branch of the Bruges-based College of Europe after having been previously launched in Poland.

It’s incredible news for us. Something that would have been very difficult to imagine only a few years ago, that Albania would become the country of the College of Europe, and definitely the credit for this goes to Federica, who has strongly supported this idea.

Thank you!