PM departs for Rome ahead of Albania-Italy intergovernmental summit
Prime Minister Edi Rama will travel to Rome tonight, November 12, for the first-ever Government-to-Government (G2G) meeting between Albania and Italy — a joint cabinet session aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation across key sectors.
Why is this important: The summit marks a strategic shift in the Albania-Italy relationship, upgrading ties through shared projects in energy, defense, infrastructure, environment, and labor mobility. One key agreement includes a new underwater power line to export renewable energy from Albania to Italy.
Context: The plenary session will take place Thursday, November 13, at Villa Doria in Rome, where Rama will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before joining the wider cabinet-level meeting.
The agenda includes the formal exchange of several Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding, already endorsed in principle by the Albanian government.
Among the agreements is the planned construction of a new undersea energy connection across the Adriatic, enabling the transfer of solar and wind-generated power from Albania to Italy. Another headline deal involves the controversial transfer of migrants from Italy to newly constructed facilities in Shëngjin and Gjadër.
Bilateral social security cooperation is also delivering results. Sincr July 1, over 421,000 Albanians have had their social security contributions recognized for Italian pension purposes, according to government data.
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