Rama reacts again to the government’s 4 million euros for Kanye West concert: We did it so as not to embarrass Albania

In a reaction on social media, Prime Minister Edi Rama returned again on Wednesday to the debate over the financing of Kanye West’s concert, insisting that the government’s intervention was necessary in order not to damage Albania’s image and to ensure the holding of an event with major economic and tourism significance.

Rama said that 4 million euros were made available “at the last minute” in order to avoid the concert’s cancellation.

“4 MILLION EUROS at the last minute, so as not to embarrass Albania in the eyes of nearly 25 thousand foreigners from 80 countries who by now have long bought tickets for Kanye West; so as not to lose a fantastic opportunity to promote Tourist Albania to one of the world’s largest communities, music lovers.”

According to the prime minister, the concert will also have a noticeable impact on the economy. He compared it with the UEFA Conference League final, which, according to him, brought in 160 million euros in revenue, while for the Kanye West show the government expects around 100 million euros in benefits.

“From this concert – under conditions artificially made more difficult by bitter failures – we calculate no less than 100 million euros in revenue. One need only look at the explosion of bookings on booking.com for Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get an idea of the direct economic benefit.”

Rama also pushed back against those who have criticized the use of public funds for organizing the concert.

“The crows and ravens of the social media channels have descended with a furious chorus, making perverse calculations like unscrupulous manipulators, pretending to care about the people and even about cancer patients, who will be left without medicine because of the ‘private concert,’ as they devilishly call it.”

He also stressed that the government has increased funding for healthcare and social assistance.

“Just a few days ago, we allocated an additional 15 million euros just for medicines for cancer patients and 5 million for medical equipment; we doubled support for persons with disabilities, supported their caregivers, doubled support for children with special abilities, doubled financing for Start Ups and the sovereign guarantee for the program ‘Double Your Business.’”

At the close of his reaction, the prime minister accused his opponents of trying to halt the country’s development.

“They want to stop Albania and turn it backward! With the violence of arbitrariness, insults, slander, accusations and threats against anyone who thinks differently from them. They should forget it! Albania will not stop and has no chance whatsoever of turning back.”