During his visit to London, Prime Minister Edi Rama gave an interview to the BBC Radio 4 program The World Tonight.

The full interview focused on illegal migration to the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Rama explained how cooperation between Albania and the UK reduced the number of Albanians arriving by boat by 95% following the 2023 agreement.

Journalist: Prime Minister, the agreement regarding Albanian citizens clearly had an impact in 2022. Albanians made up more than a third of arrivals by boat, more than any other nationality. However, the number of Albanians has decreased by 95% over the past three years. Yet it hasn’t been entirely straightforward.

In May this year, Keir Starmer announced plans to set up return centers for rejected asylum seekers during a visit to Albania, only for his host, Prime Minister Edi Rama, to reject the idea. Your deal with neighboring Italy to manage asylum seekers was blocked by the European Court of Justice. How do you explain the success of the returns agreement?

Prime Minister Edi Rama: For a long time, information moved slowly through different channels, so response times were completely unacceptable. Agencies communicated poorly, so I always said: listen, if we want to succeed, we must respond equally. We must be as fast as the traffickers. We must interact as efficiently as they do and stay united, because this is not a single ethnic group facing the network; this is a multinational enterprise.

So, we coordinated: some of your people come to Albania and we start working, some of our people go to Britain and we start working there. That is what we did. We practically created a joint team. Information circulated in real time.

Journalist: Now, the topic is these return centers. You have made your position clear: Albania will not host return centers. You had a deal with Italy, but it faced legal obstacles at the European Court of Justice. Some argue that treaties need updating for the modern era because they do not consider the reality of transnational trafficking networks. Do you agree? Do things need to change based on your experience?

Prime Minister Edi Rama: Let me give the BBC the answer it deserves, very honestly. The agreement with Italy was unique because of our special relationship. In that agreement, I made it clear: we offered Italy a piece of our land to manage for their project. That land falls under Italian jurisdiction.

We offered it simply because Italy is special to us. The rest of your question concerns the idea of return centers. That is not the solution.

For Albania and Italy, it makes sense because only a sea separates our countries. But taking people to land, putting them on a plane, sending them thousands of kilometers to a third country—yes, it may have a deterrent effect, but it will not stop migration properly. At the end of the day, Europe—and the UK in this case—must answer one question: is migration a problem or part of the solution?

I believe it is part of the solution because demographics are alarming. The demographic winter in older Europe and Britain is very real. The need for labor, skilled workers, and people willing to perform all kinds of work is enormous.

The dark side of this phenomenon—trafficking and illegal migration—must be addressed through agreements with countries of origin. These agreements must create mutual benefits. Unfortunately, we live in a time when weak solutions dominate due to political pressure from forces that seek division and, symbolically, bloodshed.

Journalist: If the British Prime Minister asked for your advice on handling migration issues, what would you suggest?

Prime Minister Edi Rama: Listen, I am the tallest leader in this part of the world, but I am very aware that I lead a very small country. I cannot place myself in the position of the UK Prime Minister.

And seeing how things are going in the United Kingdom, I am very happy to be the Prime Minister of Albania.

Journalist: This was the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama.