Albania’s prime minister strongly Israeli reports that he has spoken to US President Donald Trump [Getty]
Albania’s prime minister strongly rejected Israeli reports that he had spoken to US President Donald Trump about Tirana playing a role in plans to ‘ethnically cleanse’ Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants, describing the story as “fake news”.
Edi Rama tweeted about the Israeli Channel 12 report with a screenshot, saying that although his Muslim-majority country wanted good relations with Israel and the US, he had no intention of taking part in Trump’s plan to “depopulate” Gaza.
It comes after Israel’s Channel 12 alleged that the Albanian PM was in talks with Trump to take in 100,000 Palestinians from Gaza, in a vision that has caused outrage in the MENA region.
“I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time – and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true,” Rama tweeted.
“Full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war following the medieval horrors of October 7.
“But let me be clear: Albania has not been asked by anyone, nor can we even consider to take on any such responsibility.”
He added that Tirana was proud of its strong relations with the Palestinian people and other Arab countries, but Albania was part of Europe and would have no role in Trump’s Gaza deportation plan.
“But Albania is not in the Middle East itself, and from the heart of Europe, we cannot do more than any other European country in such a matter,” he said.
“Yet, we wish and pray that the Palestinian people are given the chance to live in their own state, as free people under democratic rule, and that Hamas will never again be able to harm Israel—or, first and foremost, the Palestinians themselves.”
It comes after Trump said he would force Palestinians in Gaza to leave the enclave and said he would press neighbouring Jordan and Egypt to take in the population.
Trump has claimed he had spoken to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi about the issue, something Egyptian officials have denied.
The issue of taking in Palestinian refugees is a highly controversial one in Egypt and Jordan, who are both reliant on US aid, particularly in the latter where people of Palestinian descent form around half the population.
Rama, a pro-Western politician, has maintained warm ties with Israel and cut relations with Iran following a series of cyber attacks on the Balkan state that were blamed on Tehran.
He has also spoken up in favour of Palestinian self-determination, saying he wants a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue.
Rama made the controversial decision to accept a request by Washington to host Afghan refugees seeking visas to the USÂ but this programme is in jeopardy due to Trump pausing it shortly after taking office.
