Prime Minister Edi Rama was asked by Italian journalist Giorgio Mottola about the allegations by former deputy prime minister Arben Ahmetaj that he met with mafia bosses in his office.
While the journalist told Ram that the allegations were made by a source who is a former senior politician in his government, the prime minister responded by saying that the source "must be contaminated and with problems with justice."[
Asked about the businessman, Luftar Hysa, Rama recounted the meeting with him, presenting it as a normal meeting with a businessman who wanted to open a casino in a five-star hotel.
Part of the interview:
Journalist: A source said you met mafia bosses in this office.
Rama: It must be some very polluted and troubled source of justice.
He is a man who has been important in your government.
Rama: Then we have a saying, there is no forest without pigs
Journalist: Have you met the mafa bosses here?
Rama: "If I ask this question, you can answer no, but people start thinking' all politicians are corrupt, everyone is the same, why not meet?"