
Through a video message on social media, Prime Minister Edi Rama has reacted to criticism of Kanye West's concert in Tirana, arguing its extraordinary economic and promotional importance for Albania.
Rama described the negative reactions as a "frenzy of violence and stupidity," emphasizing that behind them lies a fundamental misunderstanding of how a country's economy functions and grows. According to him, critics are mistaken when they think that funds allocated for events of this caliber are taken away from the needy.
Rather, he used the metaphor of bread to explain that development aims to increase total capital, so that ultimately everyone benefits.
"Last night, Albania didn't just 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, this time even more than usual, the event became a new motive for very wild riots, where a frenzy of violence and madness was unleashed against a concert.
I've heard the same refrain: The people have no bread, we don't need facades.
Pensioners are dying, they won't eat the plates, poverty is at its peak, we don't want concerts.
After the outcry of opposition, absurd calculations begin: with so much money, this person would get this much, that person would get that much.
Beyond their staggering hypocrisy, there is a fundamental misunderstanding about how a country develops and how an economy grows.
Development is not a fixed-size loaf of bread where every euro allocated for a concert, for a pensioner, is taken away from a pensioner, a sick person, or a student.
"Development is the ability to make bread bigger, so that when it is later divided, there is more for everyone," said Rama.