Prime Minister Keir Starmer was challenged about previous British politicians holding sometimes ‘very humiliating and denigrating’ views and stances about Albania
Keir Starmer would not be drawn into apologising on the UK’s behalf for negative depictions of Albanians in the UK.
In the first official visit to Albania’s capital Tirana by a British prime minister, he was challenged about previous British politicians holding sometimes “very humiliating and denigrating” views about Albania.
It follows a diplomatic row having erupted when former Home Secretary Suella Braverman referred to “Albanian criminals” in Commons in a debate on migration in 2022. And in 2023, then-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was accused of verbally “lynching” Albania after he shared a video celebrating UK officials’ efforts to “get them back to Tirana”.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer announces plan to send asylum seekers to ‘return hubs’ in other countries
During a televised press conference, a journalist told Mr Starmer: “Your predecessors in government held very strong views and stances against the Albanian communities.
“Sometimes they were very humiliating and denigrating, by not clearly making a distinction between those Albanians who live with dignity and honourably by paying taxes and being good and law abiding citizens, and perhaps few who are involved in criminal activities.
“And given the fact that you are the first serving prime minister to visit Albania since we established the diplomatic relations, is it not high time that Britain actually apologises for the for the way Albanians have been treated?”
Asked if he would say sorry, the Prime Minister told reporters in Tirana: “Look, I think the fact that I’m the first British Prime Minister to be here in Albania, having a bilateral meeting, should be seen as a statement of intent as to the regard that I hold Albania and this prime minister (Edi Rama).”
Mr Starmer added: “I won’t comment on previous prime ministers in Britain, but my approach is not megaphone diplomacy. It is to do the hard yards of actually dealing with the problems that we have to address.”
Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, meanwhile said it was “not any British prime minister that did anything to offend the Albanians and to single out the Albanians”.
A few “other individuals” had been responsible for such depictions he said, adding: “Cursing the Albanians was not a good idea, because the curse went back and they are now out of the Parliament. So, it is enough. We don’t need more than that.”
Mr Rama earlier hit out at how Albanians had been “stigmatised” in the UK. Speaking via a translator, he claimed citizens of the Balkan nation living in Britain had contributed in a “dignified way” but had been negatively represented “as if they were the problem of the UK” by “several media sources”.
Mr Starmer said the UK and Albania were beginning “the next chapter of our countries’ strong relationship” as he spoke alongside his Albanian counterpart. At a press conference, the PM also said his visit provided an “opportunity to see firsthand how our two countries are working together on some of the biggest challenges that we face”, including migration.
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster