Albanian PM Cheers on Kanye West Concert Despite Antisemitism Row

Kanye West performs at the Coachella Festival in California, April 2019. Photo: EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT.

While inspecting final construction work for a stadium being built on the outskirts of Tirana for the July 11 concert by Kanye West, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Minister of Culture Blendi Gonxhja defended the event amid criticism from human rights activists over the controversial US rapper’s antisemitic comments.

“With the stadium built specifically for the biggest concert this country has ever seen, an event for which people from 80 countries have purchased more tickets than for the Conference League final in Tirana, which will transform Tirana into the global capital of musical spectacle this Saturday, July 11, I wish you a wonderful day,” Rama posted on Facebook on Tuesday, referring to a 2022 football match.

According to Albanian media, the Albanian Jewish Community lambasted the concert on May 3, saying that “offering a public platform today to a figure associated with rhetoric targeting the Jewish community would not represent cultural openness, but a moral contradiction.

“Such a concert is not ‘just a concert’, It is amplification. It is legitimisation in the eyes of the public, even when this is not said directly,” it added.

Opposition MP Gazment Bardhi on June 30 asked the Minister of Culture to cancel the concert due to West’s antisemitic comments – but Gonxhja supported West, calling him “a great artist”.

The construction works are due to finish on Thursday, Rama was told while at the site. Minister of Culture Gonxhja said that 3,500 people are working day and night to complete the works.

Both Rama and Gonxhja have promoted the rapper’s concert despite concerns about West’s past antisemitic statements, saying it will boost Albania’s profile and its economy.

“A significant number of people, including those misled by misinformation, fail to grasp the importance of this event and this undertaking; it is significant not only due to the complexity of its execution and the record Albania is set to achieve, but also because it offers an extraordinary, direct economic benefit,” Gonxhja said.

Albania’s Council of Ministers said it agreed to partly finance the “organising and the progress of an cultural and touristic activity of the international well known artist Kanye West … with 4.2 million euros”.

But Rigels Xhemollari, from the NGO Civic Resistance, criticised the decision, saying that “with that amount of money, cultural and educational summer camps could have been organised for 15,000 children for 30 days, yet you decide to spend it all on a one-day spectacle”.

West, also known as Ye, was banned from entering the UK over his antisemitic comments and a song he released entitled “Heil Hitler”. His panned festival appearance in London was cancelled as a result. Another planned performance on his European tour, in Chorzow, Poland in June was also cancelled. Australia barred West from entry in 2025.

West has blamed his bipolar disorder for his outrageous statements and actions. He even took out an advert in the Wall Street Journal to apologise and declare: “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite.”