Rama for 4 million euros/ "Not only for tourism, but also for foreign investors"
Prime Minister Edi Rama, in a reaction on social networks to the Kanye West concert held in Tirana, said that Albania did not simply organize a concert, but an event that, thanks to social channels and the global fame of the protagonist, became news in every corner of the world. According to him, this is a good opportunity not only for tourism, but also for foreign investors.
Communication from Prime Minister Edi Rama, on Facebook
"Last night, Albania did not simply organize a concert. Albania organized an event that, thanks to social channels and the global fame of the protagonist, became news in every corner of the world. But in Albania, usually, this time even more than usual, the reason is known: the event became a new motive for a very wild dassie, where a frenzy of violence and stupidity was unleashed against a concert.
It's been a lifetime since I've tried to do something beautiful, something different, something new through public projects, and I've heard the same refrain: "The people don't have food," "we don't need facades," "pensioners are dying," "they won't eat the tiles," "poverty is at its peak," "we don't want concerts." And after the cry of opposition, the absurd calculations always begin: "With so much money," "this person would get this much," "that person would get that much," and so on, and so on.
At first glance, this approach seems debatable, and the demagogues who fill social media accounts with “summer blunders” about the people seem to be saying something that makes sense, but, in reality, beyond their staggering hypocrisy, this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how a country develops and how an economy grows. Because development is not a loaf of bread with a fixed size, where every euro allocated for a concert is taken away from a pensioner, taken away from a sick person, or taken away from a student. Development is the ability to make the loaf bigger so that when it is divided, there is more for everyone.
And time has shown this since the Urban Renaissance, which changed the energy of cities and created a chain reaction of very positive developments, where from colors they moved to form, from form a new development chain was created. Consumption increased, incomes increased, investments increased, employment increased and, of course, the economy grew along with expectations. Therefore, the most important question is not simply how much it costs, but also how much value it creates. An expense ends the moment it is made, while an investment continues to produce value even after it has been made.
A grand concert leaves behind more than just a beautiful mark in the memory of those who enjoyed it. It leaves money in the coffers of packed hotels, full restaurants, cafes, shops, transportation companies, security, technology, logistics, and of course, all those who become part of its organization. It creates profits for business, creates job opportunities for the people involved, while also collecting revenue for the state through taxes on that added value, as well as millions of eyes directed towards Albania.
It shows the world that this is a country where, even when there are protests, there is hospitality, there is security and major events can be organized with passion and professionalism. A free, democratic country, where you should not be afraid to come, relax, return and think about investing. Imagine how this message would have gone to those foreigners who have booked to come in the weeks of the coming month and, in the meantime, were thinking about canceling their holiday reservations due to the protest, as happened in June, where, after a fantastic May, the influx fell, effectively hitting the economy of many families who live off tourism and imagine now what a negative impact the cancellation of the biggest concert that Albania has ever organized would have.
Not only for tourism, but also for foreign investors, because foreign investments do not simply go where there are favorable laws and competitive taxes, but they go where, first and foremost, there is trust, there is energy, there is reputation, there is ambition, there is security, without question, and there is a society that believes in its future and that has the courage to see the future with new eyes every day.
No one invests in a country that is afraid of itself. Capital follows, first and foremost, trust; then, of course, it calculates profit. Cities like Vienna, London, Paris, or Singapore have solved the dilemmas of “sharing the bread of development” time and again, becoming leaders in industry, culture, sports, and entertainment. They compete to bring the world’s greatest artists and events because they have understood, tested, and proven long ago that the right question is not: How much does a cultural activity cost, but how much economy does it generate? How many tourists, that is, consumers, does it attract? How much investment does it inspire and how much prestige does it build?
Today's Albania should not only ask: "How much does it cost?" Today's Albania, which aims for the league of Mediterranean tourism champions, should definitely ask: "How much value is created from this investment?" And do not forget that there is a much greater and much more dangerous poverty for a country than the lack of sufficient income: the poverty of aspirations for a country and for anyone. Whoever is poor in aspirations is condemned to remain far behind the opportunities that he really has as a country or as an individual. Whoever sees every bold idea as hasty and whoever sees every success as doubtful does not fight it, but only feeds poverty. Poverty is not fought by not giving concerts, but by giving concerts, because a country can never become rich by thinking only of the stomach and not of the soul.
Well-being grows by creating value, by attracting capital, ideas, people and, above all, by being a protagonist actor, not a passive spectator of the world we live in. Pensions are not paid for by pessimism. Hospitals are not built by rejecting every great initiative. Well-being is not born from diminishing dreams; it is born from the courage to see further, to aim higher and to create more value, always having the courage to dare more.
And now, two more words about the 4 million euros and for those who pretend not to understand and while they constantly throw poison, poison, poison into the ears of people, from pensioners to the youngest, they must be exposed to the fact that, yes, those 4 million euros were an investment. Yes, they were an investment made at the last minute to save the much larger investment for Albania, for the economy of Tirana and for thousands of people from over 80 thousand countries of the world who had bought tickets to come here and, above all, an investment to not open a new wound of distrust towards an Albania where everyone has their eyes and where it must keep its word that guarantees all international activities and guarantees foreign citizens who come to this country.
But the truth of the 4 million is even more complete than that. It is even more complete beyond what we do, because those 4 million euros would not have come out of the state coffers if the threats, blackmail, bullying campaign and violent hysteria of social networks had not been made, where a minority of people think that they can impose linguistic terror on an entire country, the government, businesses and anyone who does not think like those who embody that minority. But how can this be allowed? How can this be allowed in a democratic country? Put a lock on your head or tie a flag around your neck and take Albania hostage in the name of the people. Meanwhile, the people, as is well known, speak with their votes, not with insults, not with threats, not with violence and blackmail through the mouths of some spokespeople, who, at best, are ignorant scoundrels and, at worst, are caught adventurers. Yes, yes, caught. Therefore, if those 4 million euros hurt them and then those who follow them, let's first hold ourselves accountable for the climate of violence they have fueled through social channels, because the 4 million euros from the state treasury were not taken out by the concert, but by the attack, the blind aggression to destroy the concert.
Protests are a source of energy for democracy and respect for the institution of protest. I personally and this governing majority have proven it from day one, and we will always prove it. But there is no chance that we will accept to submit to violence, threats, blackmail or lynch mobs reminiscent of those medieval squares with the exalted crowd that enjoyed the spectacle of lynching and death.
Likewise, there is no way that I personally agree with the idea that, in the Albania of 2026, citizens should be silent, artists should withdraw, and businesses should pay tribute to a crowd of online bullies who, with their blindness and the support of many fake profiles, remind one of the Red Guards, the guardsmen of the Cultural Revolution in China.
One more important thing in closing. Flocks of crows and larks are engaged to accuse me of attacking the people who have come out to the streets, of insulting the youth who are awake, of accusing the immigrants who are demanding an account, and so on and so forth. No, no! Absolutely not! I have made the distinction from the beginning and every time I have spoken, between the day of the flamingo and the night of the raven and the crow. I have never prejudiced those citizens who came out to protest peacefully, with the conviction that they want a better Albania. All those young men and women who came out to protest with the conviction that they want a more protected environment, those family members who came out to protest for better quality healthcare, those parents who came out to protest because they want a better education, those men and women who came out to protest because they want a more humane administration and can never prejudice people in general who want a more just state in its entirety. Because I want exactly the same things.
When a country progresses, people's expectations grow faster than the pace of progress itself. Better roads make the remaining potholes more unbearable. The frontal fight against corruption, which has never happened before, makes corruption even more unbearable. Faster services, like never before, 95% online, make any backward service even more intolerable. This is not a sign of failure; it is the clearest, surest, most meaningful sign that society demands more and more and our task is not to lower citizens' expectations, nor to see their dissatisfaction as opposition to us, but to narrow the gap every day between what we have achieved and what they, rightly, expect from us.
"That's why we are listening very carefully. A group specially set up since the first days is collecting every concern and we are trying to build a reflection on our shortcomings, mistakes, gaps and then, of course, step by step, we will communicate them with all those ordinary and honest people of this country who demand that our journey towards the European home be faster and that Albania become more quickly what they want, but not only want: they deserve," said Rama.
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