With Albania heading to general elections on Sunday, 11 May, the incumbent Prime Minister, eccentric artist and former basketball player Edi Rama, looks set to win a fourth mandate running on the ticket of EU membership by 2030.
Albanians are some of the most pro-EU on the continent, with approval ratings of EU accession ranging between 90-98% - a mean feat considering their journey to the EU started in 2000 and has faced many setbacks over the years. In Brussels in June 2022, when the opening of chapters was denied due to Bulgaria’s veto against North Macedonia, whose EU path was tied to Tirana’s, Rama slammed the EU, calling it a “shame”.
“I feel sorry for them. I hope we can help them,” Rama said. He expressed his “deep sorrow” for the EU, saying the spirit of enlargement is “crooked.”
However, after negotiations formally opened later that year and the first chapters were opened in January 2025, things changed politically. Even statements from the European Commission marked a shift in tone.
On a visit to Tirana in April 2025, the EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said, "2030 is a realistic target for joining the European Union, if we all take the right steps along the way.” This homework includes a focus on the rule of law, ongoing reforms, and “no shortcuts,” but she was clear that “Albania’s future is in the European Union.”
This positive message was a far cry from the somewhat impotent statements of the past, which parroted rhetoric of “potential” and “future” membership with no firm commitments.
Rama, who has served 12 years as PM, has made EU membership a central part of his campaign. During the lead-up to the elections, electoral offices and billboards around the country featured EU flags intertwined with the Albanian flag and a slogan that joining the EU is only possible with Edi.
His path to a fourth term, which would cement his position as the country’s longest-running ruler in the 34 years since it emerged from totalitarian communist rule, also seems certain.
The most recent polls, conducted independently at Barometri at Euronews Albania, show that 41.09% of citizens believe he is the most suitable candidate for Prime Minister, compared to 24.3% for his main challenger, Sali Berisha. In addition, 43.3% say his centre-left Socialist Party is fit to rule, compared to 25.5% of the centre-right Democratic Party alliance. However, regarding his likability, Rama scores even better, with over 52% of respondents liking him, some 20 percentage points more than Berisha.
Meanwhile, the diaspora will be voting from abroad for the first time ever, with over 250,000 registered to vote, and more than 150,000 postal votes returned so far. Socialist Party insiders say they project some 65% of the vote share going to them, due to strong party structures in Italy and Greece, where most of the diaspora lives.
While there is a chance of challenge from any possible coalition between Berisha and a number of smaller parties, it remains likely that Rama will continue to lead the country for the next four years.
Source: Personal archive of the author
But what is the key to his success? Rama was born into an artistic family and started painting from a young age. He then played professional basketball in his teenage years, boosted by his stature at 2 metres tall. The artist and sportsman was also involved in the anti-communist uprising in the early 90s, but due to quarrels with other students over ideology, he moved to France to pursue an art career. Then in 1998, he returned to Albania and was offered the position of the Minister of Culture.
He went on to be reelected as Tirana mayor three times and became known for his projects to cover the walls of the city’s apartment blocks in art, murals, and bright colours. He also started to get noticed for his unique style of dressing and rebellious political style, which has remained throughout his career.
His penchant for jokes, white sneakers at international summits, and not taking himself too seriously have won over legions of fans in global politics, media, and society. Rama counts Giorgia Meloni, famous social media streamer “IShowSpeed,” former COO of OpenAI, Mira Murati, and singer Dua Lipa as friends. He is frequently seen hugging and charming colleagues, including prime ministers, presidents, and European Commission officials, giving a welcome breath of fresh air to the stuffy world of international diplomacy.
In his campaign, he has been joined by social media-savvy activists, sassy budding politicians, and social media influencers. His campaign song “Te gjithe sebashku” (All Together) was penned and performed by Noizy, arguably Albania’s most popular, albeit controversial, rapper.
But at home, he does face criticism and a number of challenges. As of May 2025, the incumbent Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, widely tipped as his second in command and a possible candidate to take over from Rama as party leader, is in prison awaiting trial for money laundering and corruption. A plethora of his ministers and former officials and mayors have been investigated and even convicted for corruption, and his former deputy prime minister, Arben Ahmetaj, is on the run.
Some accuse him of criminal connections, heavy-handed governing tactics, and exerting pressure on the judiciary, media, and other institutions, something he vehemently denies. That said, Albania has noted improvements in media freedom, rising 18 places in this year’s Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, and enjoying similar improvements in corruption perception reports and lists.
In addition, the country has witnessed a significant boom in tourism, with a 30% increase noted in the first months of 2025 when compared to the previous year. Rama’s penchant for making headlines with decisions like banning TikTok, establishing a sovereign Bektashi state, and giving an island to Trump’s son in law to turn into a luxury resort, have taken up significant column inches in the world’s leading media, putting Albania on the map for a whole new raft of reasons.
But as for Albania’s EU dreams, not everyone is convinced. The country’s EU negotiator, Zef Mazi, who served between 2020 and 2022, said that opening chapters is all very well and good, but so far, the country has yet to close one.
“Therefore, I cannot figure out where the rhetorical enthusiasm of closing negotiations in 2027 or providing EU passports comes from. As much as I would wish to see things in a different light, this seems more delusional than realistic,” he told BIRN.
From a practical perspective, closing all chapters by 2027 to join in 2030 seems like a pipe dream. Even though the government has said it will use AI to transpose and align its legislation with the EU acquis, areas like food safety and standards, agriculture, waste management, and of course, the rule of law, will require significant heavy lifting.
That said, the argument that many EU member states, including Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and even Malta and Hungary, were not ready to join and are not compliant themselves even today is often used.
As Rama said in 2022, “It is crucial to have working institutions and not to cheat a lot as some neighbouring countries did in the past." When asked to name names, Rama said, "Greece," causing a diplomatic spat with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Increased political will to expand, particularly in the face of war in Ukraine, uncertainty with transatlantic relations, and the threat of Russian influence, particularly in the Western Balkan region, means that while logically, such goals seem impossible, the political impetus in Albania but also in Brussels could be there to make them a reality.
