The Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama today at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels once again ironically referred to the name of the country, when during the greeting with Charles Michel - President of the European Council, Emmanuel Macron, President of France and Ursula von der Layen - President of the European Commission, addressed them with the words "Greetings from Eastern Macedonia".

Later, at a press conference, answering a journalist question, Rama said that he hoped that his latest joke would not be understood as the previous one, when in Thessaloniki he presented the Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski of the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as "Prime Minister of the future Western Bulgaria".

"I hope it will not happen like with the stupid Macedonian opposition, OK… which understood what I said about Western Bulgaria as an insult. The video was also shortened, because I said the future Prime Minister of Western Bulgaria and then: the future Prime Minister of Eastern Albania. Because they want this country to make every effort. They changed the name. But this was said as something not very nice for Bulgaria and the EU, and not for Northern Macedonia. But when you are a stupid opposition, then you are doomed to remain in opposition. "So, they are good there and maybe they will come to their senses in time," the Albanian prime minister said.