Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama referenced ‘Brexit boats’ and said leaving the EU had made Britons more depressed as he took a veiled swipe at Nigel Farage
A visiting Prime Minister has said Britain is paying the price for leaving the EU as he took a swipe at Nigel Farage’s theatrics.
Albanian leader Edi Rama told those who criticise people from his country to “shut the f up” – and brutally mocked former Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman. He praised the Labour government for making breakthroughs on illegal migration – contrasting this with the “poetry of the opposition”.
He is in the UK for a summit which will address trafficking through the Balkans. He said co-operation on organised crime and illegal migration is working in a “fantastic way” – saying: “Not only that has worked in a fantastic way, but, it has worked in a way that I believe is sustainable…
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“It’s a systemic, confrontation with this disease of trafficking networks.” And in a barbed reference to Mr Farage, he said: “It’s not up to us to decide who will be elected and who will not be elected in Britain.
“But at the end of the day we have seen more than once than the business of the government is something totally different from the poetry of the opposition. So I don’t see any problem when it comes to cooperating with whomever.
“And, at the end, I believe that Farage is not the problem, Farage is a mirror of problems that has some theatrical capacity to be attractive, but the problems are elsewhere.”
Addressing small boats crossings, Mr Rama told the audience at Chatham House: “Some call them small boats, some call them Brexit boats. And one wonders why you left Europe.
“You left Europe because you wanted less boats, and you have more boats. You left Europe because you wanted more investment. You have less investment.
“You left Europe because you wanted more happiness. Now you are depressed.”
He went on to say that migrants had become “scapegoats” for Brexit. Mr Rama said he was still angry at former Home Secretary Suella Braverman referencing “Albanian criminals” back in 2023.
“By the way, where is she?” he quipped. And he added: “Just keep in mind, you know, don’t mess with the Albanians because if the Albanians curse you, you just disappear.”
He urged British politicians to “not mention Albanians for anything but very good reasons”. he said: “Now (they) are giving energy, are giving services, are working hard, are proud to be part of this large community of people, of this diverse society. And so whoever touched them should shut the f up.”
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